Thursday, March 6, 2014

LACEY, Wash. – Patrick Simon, Division II’s top three-point percentage shooter, scored 20 points leading top-seed Seattle Pacific to a 73-57 win over Western Oregon Thursday in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship semifinals.

That sets up a rematch Saturday of last year’s title game at Marcus Pavilion on the campus of Saint Martin’s University when the Falcons, as the No. 2 seed, upset Western Washington 72-70.  WWU advanced to Saturday’s 5:15 p.m. championship with a 73-52 win in Thursday’s first semifinal.

The winner of  Saturday’s game will earn the GNAC’s automatic berth in next week’s NCAA Division II West Regionals, which begin Friday (March 9).

Simon made 4-of-8 treys including 4-of-5 in the first half.  The 6-8 senior forward who began his collegiate career at Washington State, scored 16 points in the first half as SPU grabbed a 42-27 lead.  On the season he has made 79-of-148 three-pointers and is shooting 53.4 percent.

The Falcons scored 11 straight points and then extended that run to 21-4 breaking away from an 11-11 tie midway through the opening period.  Appropriately enough Simon began the surge with a three-pointer.

SPU led by 17 points on six different occasions in the half and extended its lead to 24 (54-30) during the first five minutes of the second period.

WOU later scored nine straight points – five by Marwan Sarhan - and closed to within 13 (58-45) with 7:56 left in the game but a three-pointer by Riley Stockton and a deuce by Mitch Penner took the lead back to 18 and WOU couldn’t get closer than 14 the rest of the way.

In addition to Simon’s 20 points, SPU was also led by GNAC Player of the Year David Downs who had 18 points and a game-high five assists.  Penner added 11 on 5-of-7 field goal shooting and Stockton had 10.

Devon Alexander led Western Oregon with 15 points, while Lewis Thomas had 10.

Seattle Pacific shot 62.5 percent (15-of-24) in opening up its 15-point halftime lead before cooling off (10-of-30) in the second half and finishing with a 46.3 percentage.

WOU also cooled off after the break making just 7-of-24 and finishing with a 38.0 percentage (19-of-50).

SPU also controlled the backboards outrebounding the Wolves 35-26 as Matt Borton had seven.  Andy Avgi had eight for WOU.

Saturday’s championship game will be the 10th meeting since 2012 between the Northwest rivals, who clashed in the last two NCAA Division II West Regional finals in addition to last year's GNAC championship game.