Seattle Pacific Men Upset No. 2-Ranked Humboldt State, 99-93
January 10, 2004

SEATTLE (Jan. 10) – Ralph Steele scored 12 of his 19 points in the final four minutes and Jason Chivers had 22 points as Seattle Pacific University staged an improbable upset of No. 2 ranked Humboldt State, 99-93, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at Brougham Pavilion Saturday.

For the hot-shooting Falcons (2-2, 6-7), who connected on 58 percent (33-57) of their field goals, it was their third win over a No. 2-ranked team in NCAA Division II but their first since defeating Tampa in the 1990-91 season.

Steele (Jr., 6-2, No. Birmingham, Al.) scored six straight points–two layups and a short baseline jumper–for SPU as they went ahead 90-85 entering the final 1:42. He then sank all six of his free throws in the final 44 seconds.

Fred Hooks topped the Lumberjacks (3-1, 11-3) with 19 points. Trey Shannon and Mark White each added 18. Humboldt, which has never won in 13 visits to Brougham Pavilion, finished with a 40-29 edge in rebounding and shot 47 percent, including 14-24 treys.

Seattle Pacific, which had lost four out of five, was playing without No. 3 scorer and starting forward Dustin Bremerman (Fr., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower), who suffered an ankle injury in Thursday’s loss to Western Oregon. Yet the Falcons led for much of the game until Humboldt moved in front, 78-74, with 7:11 remaining.

Steele then figured in a pivotal 14-5 run for an 88-83 advantage. The ‘Jacks got no closer than three the rest of the way. Chad Williams (So., 6-8, Burlington, Wa.) hit a three from the top of the key to give Seattle Pacific the lead for good, 82-80. Chivers, who had 15 points in the second half, then converted from short range on the next possession. He finished 9-13 from the field but, with seven rebounds, missed his eighth straight double double. Steele led the Falcons with seven boards.

For SPU, Jordan Lee (Jr., 6-2, Tacoma, Wa./Life Christian) had 17 points and Tony Binetti (So., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) passed for a career-high 11 assists.

The Falcons forged a 13-point lead midway through the first period and led by as many as 12 with five minutes to go. But the ‘Jacks, with treys by Mark White and Jeremiah Ward, trimmed it to 49-46 at the break. Knudson came off the bench to hit a pair of three-pointers and score 11 before the break as SPU shot 61 percent and made 5-7 treys. Humboldt counted with Hooks’ 13 and 53 percent shooting. Much of the first half was played with each team sitting a key player. Chivers and Austin Nichols, who had scored 46 points in the four-overtime game last year, went to the bench with two fouls in the first nine minutes.

SPU in on the road next week, beginning Thursday at Seattle University.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 99, HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY 93

HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY ((3-1) 11-3) Hooks,Fred 8-17 3-4 19; White,Mark 5-12 5-6 18; Shannon,Trey 7-11 1-1 18; Nichols,Austin 4-10 4-5 14; Feramisco,Jordan 4-6 0-0 10; Ward,Jeremiah 2-2 0-0 6; Thornton,Kaylin 2-2 0-0 5; Johnson,Kejuan 1-4 0-1 3; Hungerford,Aaron 0-2 0-2 0; Kaatz,Dustin 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 33-70 13-19 93.

SEATTLE PACIFIC ((2-2) 6-7) Chivers,Jason 9-13 4-5 22; Steele,Ralph 6-13 7-7 19; Lee,Jordan 5-11 3-5 17; Knudson,Jeff 3-6 3-5 11; Bushmaker,Mike 3-3 3-4 9; Williams,Chad 2-5 2-3 8; Binetti,Tony 3-4 2-2 8; Cohen,Chris 2-2 1-2 5. Totals 33-57 25-33 99.

Halftime-Seattle Pacific 49, Humboldt State 46. 3-point goals-Humboldt State University 14-24 (White,Mark 3-6; Shannon,Trey 3-4; Ward,Jeremiah 2-2; Nichols,Austin 2-5; Feramisco,Jordan 2-3; Johnson,Kejuan 1-1; Thornton,Kaylin 1-1; Kaatz,Dustin 0-2), Seattle Pacific 8-14 (Lee,Jordan 4-5; Williams,Chad 2-3; Knudson,Jeff 2-3; Binetti,Tony 0-1; Steele,Ralph 0-2). Fouled out--Humboldt State University-None, Seattle Pacific-None. Rebounds-Humboldt State University 40 (Shannon,Trey 10), Seattle Pacific 29 (Steele,Ralph 7). Assists-Humboldt State University 25 (White,Mark 8), Seattle Pacific 20 (Binetti,Tony 11). Total fouls-Humboldt State University 26, Seattle Pacific 22. A-1,350.