SEATTLE (Mar. 11) -- Donte Quinine and Drake Hudgins each scored 22 points as Seattle Pacific University clinched its first NCAA Division II West Regional title in 35 years by defeating Central Washington 85-72 before a raucous home crowd at Brougham Pavilion Saturday night

The 10th-ranked Falcons (26-4) advance to the Elite Eight in Louisville, and will face Georgia College & State (25-5) from the South Atlantic Region in a quarterfinal game Mar. 22.

Quinine, a 6-6 senior who was voted the tournament's most outstanding player, scored nine of his points during a 25-5 run which broke open a close game midway the second half. Hudgins hit one of his four three-pointers to ignite the spree.

Central, which had won its last two meetings with Seattle Pacific on the pavilion floor, made a late charge behind Carson Payne but never got closer than 77-69 with 2:25 left. The Wildcats, ranked No. 22, finished 21-7.

With 1:48 to go and the shot clock about to expire, Brannon Stone clinched the victory with a three-pointer from the right corner, making it 80-69. Stone, a 6-7 sophomore, finished with 17 points and 11 boards.

"What comes to mind for me is that a lot of guys over the last 10 years have contributed to the program reaching this point," said SPU Coach Ken Bone, whose team had been stopped in the regional title game four of the past five years.

Three of those times, the Falcons fell to the home team. But the win came before a near-capacity crowd of 2,496. Payne had 22 points and Reggie Ball added 13. Both made the all-tournament team along with Quinine, Hudgins and John Hubbard of SPU.

"With Central, it's a battle of intensity," said Quinine. "We came out and matched their intensity, and because of that we seemed to have an abundance of energy."

Quinine slashed through the lane for four close-range, hanging jumpers as SPU pushed out to a 75-57 lead with 5 minutes, 13 seconds remaining. He also finished with a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Falcons led virtually the entire first period while shooting 59 percent. Hudgins hit his first three three-pointers and had 13 points in the half. Central kept pace by hitting eight treys.

For the game, SPU shot 55 percent, out-rebounded the 'Cats 45-32 and outscored their Pacific West Conference rivals 23-6 at the foul line.

Not since 1965, when it last played at home in the playoffs, has SPU sent a team to the Elite Eight. This is the first time since 1988 that a non-California team has represented the West in the quarterfinals.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON--
Payne 22, Rinta 7, DeLange 5, Schuh 6, Ball 13, Bursch 3, Chapman 3, D. Stone 2, Felker 3, Streleski 8, Littleton.

SEATTLE PACIFIC--
Quinine 22, Leadon 2, B. Stone 17, Hudgins 22, Skogstad 9, Bukoski, Johnson 4, Hubbard 9, Zabukovec.

Halftime--SPU 42, CWU 40.