Friday, March 4, 2016

LACEY, Wash. – Julian Nichols netted the game-winner with eight seconds left Friday to lead No. 1 Western Oregon to their first GNAC Men’s Basketball Championships final with a 58-57 victory over No. 4 seed Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin’s University’s Marcus Pavilion.

The Falcons, the three-time defending champions, had a chance to win it after a pair of timeouts following Nichols’ 15-footer, but a pair of last second attempts by Will Parker and Mitch Penner fell short, ensuring that the tournament will end with a new champion.

Saturday’s championship game will feature a pair of first-time championship game competitors. The Wolves (26-3) will face No. 2 seed Alaska in the final at 5:30 p.m. The game will be webcast on GNAC.tv and will be aired nationwide by the American Sports Network as part of the Division II Basketball Showcase. Seattle Pacific dropped to 22-8 overall, but are likely to be among the team selected for the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Devon Alexander led Western Oregon with 19 points, connecting pn 7 of 17 from the field. Jordan Wiley added 14 points while Alexander finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Penner led all scorers with 26 points, connecting on 8 of 11 from the field and 9 of 9 from the free throw line. Brendan Carroll added 14 points. Seattle Pacific shot 42.6 percent from the field (20-47) while Western Oregon shot 39.6 percent (21-53).

Seattle Pacific make it known early that it would be another agreessive, hard fought affair, taking the early 9-4 lead on Will Parker’s three-point play just three minutes in. The Falcons extended the advantage to 15-6 on Carroll’s jumper at the 13:25 mark before the Wolves went on a 12-2 run over the next five minutes, taking the 18-17 lead on Alexander’s three-pointer with nine minutes left. Western Oregon extended it to four on Nichols’ lay-in with 2:22 to go, but the Falcons used a basket by Penner to close to withing 32-31 at the break.

The game stayed close through the first 10 minutes of the second half, with the Falcons building the biggest lead of four points on Penner’s lay-in at the 13:42 mark. Western Oregon trailed 41-40 with 11:10 to go when a pair of Andy Avgi free throws started a 6-0 run that gave the Wolves a 46-41 lead. The Falcons then reduced the margin to 46-45 before Alexander’s three started an 8-0 run that gave Western Oregon their largest lead, 54-45, with 5:11 left. Seattle Pacific responded with a 12-2 run of their own and took the 57-56 lead on Carroll’s jumper with 25 seconds left.

Western Oregon came right back down the floor, moving the ball until Nichols broke open for his 15-footer with eight seconds left.