Seattle Pacific University men’s basketball defeated Linfield University 81-62 on Saturday, Nov. 23, in Royal Brougham Pavilion.

The Falcons had to find their feet at the beginning of the game, keeping a three-point lead for most of the first half. SPU entered halftime leading 38-36.

Seattle Pacific men’s basketball head coach Keffrey Fazio credited much of Linfield’s first-half success to soft defense by the Falcons.

“I think our guys started a little bit slow,” Fazio said. “We weren’t firm enough at the end of the plays in the first half. [Linfield] shot about 60 percent from the field, in the first half, [and] in the second half, they were below 30 percent.”

Coming into the second half, Seattle Pacific was able to work their way through Linfield’s defense. Junior forward Trace Evans sparked momentum in the second half, scoring nine points. Evans claimed the second top scorer this game with 19 points. Seattle Pacific’s in-field percentage went up from about 45 percent in the first half to 59 percent in the second.

Junior guard Owen Moriarty was the game’s top scorer with 20 points, his third in a row at or above that mark. Playing for 35 minutes, making four rebounds and four assists, he led the game with an 8-14 shot rate.

Evans shared his thoughts on Linfield’s double-guarded baseline defense.

“I think our team did a really good job adjusting in the second half to their physicality and exploiting that into points for us,” Evans said. “They made some shots, we did a good job in not letting that affect us and executing our game plan.”

All in all, after a few back-and-fourths in the first half, the Falcons gained the lead and worked their way through offensively from there.

Seattle Pacific is scheduled to play Point Loma University on Friday, Nov. 29, at 2:00 p.m. in San Diego, California, for the PLNU Thanksgiving Classic.