Gallery • 4 Photos

Keaton Dixson

Divant'e Moffit prepares to shoot as the opposing team Stan State defends against his shot.

This Week in Falcon Sports

Seattle Pacific University’s men’s basketball team knew that the road would be tough to begin with this season. However, the team got their first win on Saturday, beating Concordia University Irvine 80-66. The game was the second out of six straight on the road. 

Before all that, the Falcons took on Stanislaus State University at Royal Brougham Pavilion. 

The Falcons quickly got behind in the first half, as Stanislaus took a 40-28 lead into the second half. Slowly but surely, the Falcons made a comeback. 

When freshman center Filip Fullerton hit a jumper with 12:48 left in the second half, SPU had fought back to make the score 47-46. 

But for every shot the Falcons made, guard Ty Davis had the answer for SSU. 

The Warriors built the lead to 71-59 with 1:54 to go, but the Falcons came charging back. Freshman guard Zack Paulsen hit two three-pointers within the last thirty seconds of the game, but SSU held on to win 75-71. 

“We played with a greater urgency for most of the second half, and that helped lead to the better production,” Head Coach Grant Leep said .

Davis led the Warriors with 22 points, and also added six rebounds and five assists. Vida Faniel had 12 points off the bench for SSU.

For the Falcons, sophomore Divant’e Moffatt led the team with 14 points, and senior Gavin Long had 12 points and eight rebounds.

The team then went on the road and faced Azusa Pacific University, losing 72-57. 

The Falcons started the game well, pushing their lead to seven points with just under five minutes to go in the half. However, APU finished the half by scoring 11 straight points to give themselves a four point lead. 

The Falcons did not give up, and were only down by three points with nine minutes to go in the game. But the Cougars finished the game on a 21-9 run, and the Falcons only hit two of their last 13 shots of the game.

Selom Mawugbe had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Azusa Pacific. Jake Spurgeon had 15 points and Brennan Rymer chipped in with 14 points.

Moffitt and Long again led the Falcons in scoring with 13 points each. 

The Falcons came into the game against Concordia-Irvine desperate for a win, and they got out to a quick 17-10 lead in the first half. The Eagles fought back to tie the game at 32-32 going into halftime. 

The Falcons offense exploded for 48 points in the second half, getting to the paint early and often. The game still remained close until there were six minutes left, when the Falcons went on a 21-7 run to close out the game. 

Fullerton led the Falcons with 16 points, while junior Harry Cavell had 14 points and six assists, and sophomore Braden Olsen had 14 points and five assists off the bench.

The Eagles had five scorers in double figures, but it wasn’t enough to come away with the win. 

The Falcons have a 10 day break before hitting the road again to take on Sonoma State University.

“We are getting better every time we hit the court … and that’s what we need to continue to do,” Leep said.

Women’s basketball had the tough task of facing two of the best teams in the country last weekend, and they ultimately came up short in both contests. 

They first took on Azusa Pacific University, and Asuza was in control almost the whole way, building a 15-point lead by halftime and never looking back. The lead grew to as much as 27 before the game was over, APU winning 76-58. 

Daylee Hanson had 17 points for the Cougars, and Lydia Nieto had 13 off the bench.

Freshman Kayla Brundidge led the Falcons with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and senior Madi Hingston scored 14 points. 

Next, the Falcons took on the University of California San Diego. The Falcons had a lead on the sixth ranked Tritons at halftime, but the Tritons used a 17-3 run in the third quarter to give them the lead for good. UCSD ended up winning 79-67.

Julia Macabuhay led all scorers with 20 points for the Tritons, and Isabelle Parker had 17 points and eight rebounds, while Tyla Turner had 14 points and nine rebounds.

Juniors Ashlynn Burgess and Hailee Bennett had 18 points each to lead the Falcons, while sophomore Ashley Alter had 14 points. 

The Falcons will play their first games at home next weekend against Colorado School of Mines and Regis University. 

Men’s soccer has not had the brightest of seasons, but they racked up two more wins last week to finish up the season on a four-game winning streak. 

The offense was working for the Falcons as they faced off against Montana State Billings and came away with a 4-1 win. 

Sophomore Mario Vukic started the scoring for the Falcons in the 17th minute, but Montana State’s Shantik Bedrosian tied the game one minute later. 

Sophomore Alden Massey made sure the game did not stay tied for long, scoring five minutes later. 

In the second half, Alex Mejia scored two goals for the Falcons, essentially putting the game away. 

Massey also had two assists in the game, earning him the GNAC men’s soccer Offensive Player of the Week. 

The last game of the season for the Falcons against Northwest Nazarene University was a defensive struggle, as the only goal of the game came on junior Sam Malloch’s penalty kick after a Nighthawks defender committed a handball in the box. 

With the win, the Falcons finished with a conference record of six wins and six losses, good enough for third place in the GNAC.

The All GNAC men’s soccer team was announced this week, and junior forward Titus Grant made the first team after leading the Falcons with nine goals. 

A trio of juniors, Nik Reierson, Travis Swallow, and Sam Malloch, plus sophomore Eduardo Calvo-Salinas all made the honorable mention list. 

Lastly, Volleyball took on Saint Martin’s University last week, and defeated them in four sets. After winning the first set, the Falcons stumbled a little and lost the second set 25-19. The Falcons rebounded to finish Saint Martin’s off, 25-20 and 25-19.

Junior Maddie Batiste had 20 kills and 22 digs, and senior Gabby Oddo had 16 kills.