Tuesday, November 12, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. -  After opening its season with three impressive wins in the CCA (Conference Commissioners Association) Division II Tipoff Classic in Anaheim, Seattle Pacific returns to Brougham Pavilion this weekend to host the Sodexo Tipoff Classic.

The tournament will feature both the men's and women's teams from Central Washington and Seattle Pacific along with four other teams.  Dixie State and Colorado Christian complete the men's field, while the women's field will also include Point Loma Nazarene and NAIA Montana Tech.

Central Washington's men will make its official 2013-14 debut Friday at 3 p.m. against Dixie State, while the Falcons will open at 7 p.m. against Colorado Christian.  The teams switch opponents Saturday with the Wildcats playing Colorado Christian at 3 and the Falcons facing Dixie State at 7 p.m.

Alaska Anchorage will also host a tournament this weekend as they'll be joined by Alaska Fairbanks, which will also make its official 2013-14 debut, Regis and Holy Names in the AT&T Alascom Classic.  Friday's matchups will feature the Nanooks against Regis at 5 p.m. followed by the Seawolves and Holy Name at 7.

Western Oregon, meanwhile, travels to southern California to compete in the Azusa Pacific Invitational.  They'll play Cal Poly Pomona Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Cal State Dominguez Saturday at 5:30 p.m.  Dominguez is coming off a 88-81 win Sunday over Alaska Anchorage in the CCA tournament.

Other games on Friday include Notre Dame de Namur at Western Washington and Saint Martin's at Cal State L.A.  On Saturday, MSU Billings, which plays at South Dakota Mines on Thursday, will play at Black Hills State.  Notre Dame de Namur will take on Simon Fraser, Saint Martin's visits Cal Baptist and Northwest Nazarene plays an exhibition at the University of Idaho.

Alaska Anchorage completes the weekend Sunday with a non-tournament game against Holy Names.

Downs & Company Lead Seattle Pacific to a 3-0 Start

With 75 points and 11 assists, David Downs contributed to at least 45 percent of Seattle Pacific’s offense in wins over Cal State Dominguez Hills, Lindenwood and Texas A&M International in the CCA Division II Tipoff Classic. 

But, the GNAC Red Lion Player of the Week winner wasn’t a one-man show as Patrick Simon (37 points), Riley Stockton (35 points) and Cory Hutsen (30 points) also averaged in double figures. 

Stockton, the defending GNAC rebound champion, also had 17 rebounds, eight assists, six of SPU’s 13 steals and both of its blocked shots.

Thompson Produces Top Numbers, Too

Alaska Anchorage’s Travis Thompson, coming off a redshirt season, led the Seawolves to two wins in the CCA Division II Tipoff Classic, averaging 20.3 points.

He led UAA in points (61), rebounds (16) and steals (6) and ranked second in assists with 10.  Thompson had a career-high 32 points – the most points for a Seawolf since Taylor Rohde scored 32 in a 2012 NCAA first round tournament game - in Sunday’s loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills. 

UAA’s Teancum Stafford had 39 points, including 29 in Saturday’s 83-72 win over Minnesota State – Mankato, before sitting out Sunday’s game for personal religious conviction reasons. 

UAA was also led by Brian McGill (46 points, 15 rebounds, 13 assists) and Kyle Fossman (41 points, 15 rebounds).

Other Top Performances

Sango Niang made seven of 15 three-point shots and had 33 points and seven assists as Simon Fraser split two games in California.  Niang, from Paris, made seven of 15 three-pointers.

Linn-Benton transfer Adam Hastings had 27 points and 15 rebounds as Western Oregon split two games in Hawaii, while Evan Coulter paced Saint Martin’s with 28 points in two losses in Hawaii.

Kevin Rima of Northwest Nazarene had 15 points and nine rebounds in a loss to Point Loma Nazarene after scoring 22 points in 93-83 exhibition loss to College of Idaho.

Mark McLaughlin scored points 30 in Central Washington’s 95-65 exhibition loss at Washington after scoring 15 in a 93-56 loss to Washington State.

AROUND THE GNAC:  Rodney Webster had 26 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and Devon Alexander had 23 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in Western Oregon’s two games ... Jonathan Mesghna led Montana State Billings with 28 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and three blocks as the Yellowjackets split two games ... Saint Martin’s JC Ryan Rogers (Lower Columbia) had 26 points and 10 rebounds ... David Gebru had 32 points and 12 rebounds in Simon Fraser’s two contests.  Ibrahim Appiah, who is the GNAC active career rebound leader with 424 (ranks 48th overall), had 11 points and 15 rebounds ... Counting Western Washington’s win Monday, GNAC teams are 6-12 in exhibition games.  They were winless in seven games against Division I schools.  Seattle Pacific’s 28-point loss at Stanford was the smallest margin in those seven contests.

GNAC RED LION PLAYER OF THE WEEK - David Downs, Seattle Pacific (G, 6-2, 195, Sr., Kirkland, WA – Bellevue Christian) was selected the MVP in the CCA (Collegiate Commissioners Association) Division II Tip Off Classic as he led the Falcons to a 3-0 record.  Downs averaged 25 points, shooting 62.1 percent from the field (18-29) and 76.5 percent from the arc (13-17).  He also made 26 of 29 free throws (89.7 percent). In addition he led SPU with 11 assists and also had seven rebounds.  Honorable Mention – Travis Thompson, Alaska Anchorage (G, 6-1, 195, Jr., Anchorage, AK – Dimond); Kevin Rima, Northwest Nazarene (F, 6-6, 210, Jr., Fairbanks, AK – Hutchinson); Evan Coulter, Saint Martin’s (G, 5-10, 195, Sr., Mount Vernon, WA – Whatcom CC); Sango Niang, Simon Fraser (G, 6-0, 170, Jr., Paris, France – Chaffey); Adam Hastings, Western Oregon (F, 6-6, 190, Jr., Corvallis, OR – Crescent Valley/Linn-Benton CC).

For more GNAC Men's Basketball News check out the GNAC Weekly Report.