Wall's Three-Pointer Earns Falcons GNAC Men's Title
Seattle Pacific earns a championship banner shot with a 72-70 win over Western Washington.
Seattle Pacific earns a championship banner shot with a 72-70 win over Western Washington.
Related Links

Saturday, March 9, 2013

BY DAN LEPSE

LACEY, Wash. – It wasn’t precisely how the pivotal play was designed. But the ball went to the correct player and he produced the desired result, delivering a Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship to Seattle Pacific in the process.

Jobi Wall swished a last-second 3-pointer from 28 feet away on the left side as No. 3-ranked Seattle Pacific knocked off defending national champion and No. 2-ranked Western Washington 72-70 Saturday to win the GNAC men's basketball tournament championship.

“We drew up a play that we’ve run numerous times. Jobi’s hit big shots all year in it,” SPU coach Ryan Looney said. “It got bobbled a little bit, didn’t get executed exactly the way we wanted to. With that, he needed to make a little bit of an individual play and that’s what great players do.”

The game-winner was Wall’s only 3-point attempt of the second half and gave him 10 points. He leads the team with 79 treys this season.

“It’s kind of still a blur looking back on it,” said Wall. “Anye (Turner) jumped out and kind of hit the ball. The ball was loose. I picked it up and found myself open for a pretty uncontested three and took it. I’m thankful it went down.”

The Falcons (25-3) became the league’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA tournament, although they already were assured of advancing. They will make their ninth consecutive playoff appearance, the longest current streak among Division II men’s basketball teams.

Western Washington (27-2) also will go and likely serve as the West Regional host. The 64-team NCAA tournament field will be announced on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time via a live selection show that airs on the official NCAA website (ncaa.com)

SPU was down 70-69 in the game at Saint Martin’s University’s Marcus Pavilion when Western’s Richard Woodworth missed two free throws with 15.1 seconds left. Riley Stockton of the Falcons grabbed the rebound, but the ball popped loose in the corner. Stockton went to the floor with a Vikings player, regained possession and called timeout with 11.9 seconds showing.

Unable to get the ball inside, it went out to Wall way out on the left. He nearly lost it, but got it back and flung up a shot with time about to expire. It hit nothing but net with one-tenth of a second showing.

The officials reset the clock to three-tenths for the final play. Western Washington tried to inbound in backcourt, but an attempted downcourt heave struck a scoreboard speaker. That turned possession back over to the Falcons, and David Downs hung onto the ensuing inbounds pass as time expired.

Downs, who led SPU with 20 points, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. His 18-point, 11-assist double-double on Friday led an 85-78 semifinal victory over Central Washington.

“David definitely deserves the MVP award. He has really learned how to play point guard this year,” said Looney. “A year ago he was a scorer for us and did a really nice job in that area. But now he’s become more complete. He can put it in the hoop and he does a great job finding his teammates when that’s what is open.”

Downs hit 11 of 14 at the free throw line on Saturday and also handed out seven assists. He helped SPU keep in contact when it looked like the game could get out of reach.

The Vikings built their largest lead, at 54-45, on the strength of an eight-point run. Paul Jones netted the first six points, on a driving layup, turnaround jumper and jump hook. When John Allen capped the surge with two free throws, they led by nine with 11:29 left to play.

But the resilient Falcons kept battling, going on a 13-4 tear to climb into a 58-58 tie with 6:25 to go. It also was tied at 60 and 62 until the Vikings went in front, stretching it to 70-66 on a Austin Bragg layup with 1:42 left before going scoreless the rest of the way.

“We have a mature group and they’ve been through this before,” Looney said. “They understood the importance of tonight’s game. You want to win a championship, that’s why we do this.”

During the final 7:35, Downs accounted for 11 of SPU’s final 19 points. He converted a pair of free throws with 15.8 seconds on the clock to move his team within 70-69 and set up the dramatic finish.

Jones led the Vikings with 20 points and John Allen added 19.

This was the first time in the three-year history of the tournament that either SPU or Western had appeared in the title game. SPU, seeded second for the GNAC tournament, had lost five in a row to the top-seed Vikings, not beating them since Feb. 22, 2011, in Bellingham.

In the first half, WWU went ahead 13-11 on a three-point play by Allen 6:25 into the game. The Falcons responded with 11 unanswered points, six of them coming on hook shots in the lane from reserve center Cory Hutsen, who finished with 16 points for the game.

The Falcons hit 5 of 6 shots during the run that provided a 22-13 advantage with 9:23 left in the half. Western aided their opponent’s surge with five straight misses and two turnovers.

Woodworth tallied 11 points in the final 5:23 before halftime to help WWU overcome a 28-19 deficit. He capped the spree with back-to-back 3-pointers to put his team up 35-31.

Ryan Todd made a driving layup with 2.3 second showing on the clock to bring SPU within 35-33 at halftime.

The Vikings missed their final four free throw attempts, all of them inside the final minute. They benefited from SPU missed free throws in the last meeting, an 83-76 overtime decision in Bellingham.

In that game, the Falcons missed eight straight charity shots during the closing minutes.

“We struggled from the free throw line up there last time we played them,” Looney recalled. “It got down the stretch, we were down and we needed to foul. Tonight they were the team that didn’t convert from the free throw line.”

Since that loss at WWU, the Falcons have reeled off nine consecutive victories.

“We finally got the monkey off our back a little bit in a sense. It’s a huge confidence builder for us as we move forward to the national tournament,” Wall said. “It’s exciting to get the win tonight, but ultimately next week is what we are excited about and looking forward to.”

The NCAA Tournament begins with first-round action on Friday. The West Region semifinals will be played Saturday and the regional championship game on Monday.

SPU and Western met in the regional championship game last year in Bellingham with the Vikings winning 56-50.
Facebook Twitter YouTube Podcasts Blog Video RSS Photos
Related Articles
Baron Rings