ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Feb. 21) ­ Ralph Steele's layup with 7 seconds remaining lifted Seattle Pacific University to its fourth win in a row, 73-71 over Central Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Nicholson Pavilion Saturday night.

The victory gave the Falcons (9-6, 13-11) their longest win string of the season and also keeps their postseason hopes alive with three games remaining. All three contests are at home, beginning next Saturday night against Western Washington. The win also keeps SPU in sole possession of fourth place in the league standings.

Steele's (Jr., 6-2, No. Birmingham, Al.) basket accounted for the only scoring in the final two minutes and helped SPU avert a second-half collapse after leading by as much as 12. The Wildcats' (5-9, 8-15) Jay Van Hook missed a medium-range jumper just before the buzzer.

Tony Binetti (So., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) paced the visitors, matching his career-high with 17 points while Jordan Lee (Jr., 6-2, Tacoma, Wa./Life Christian) added 16. Binetti made 6-8 field goals before fouling out with 3:17 left. Lee hit Steele with the pass on the winning basket.

Binetti sparked a 13-4 run to open the second half, moving SPU out to a 50-38 lead with 14:45 remaining. He scored six points in all, igniting the spree with a layup and capping it with a pair of free throws.

But the Wildcats reeled off 10 straight points to tie the game at 67. After Central briefly took the lead, lee answered with a trey before Tyler Mitchell's two foul shots tied it at 71-all.

Van Hook led all scorers with 19­13 in the final period. But Central, which has lost nine of the last 11 in the series, hit just 39 percent from the field (24-62) while Seattle Pacific shot 46 percent (26-56). Both teams managed just 3-16 on three-pointers.

Steele finished with nine points and six rebounds. Jason Chivers (Jr., 6-8, Los Angeles, Ca.) posted another double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 73, CENTRAL WASHINGTON 71

SEATTLE PACIFIC (13-11, 9-6 GNAC) - Binetti,Tony 6-8 5-6 17; Lee,Jordan 7-16 0-0 16; Bremerman,Dustin 4-9 4-7 12; Chivers,Jason 5-9 0-0 10; Steele,Ralph 3-6 3-3 9; Williams,Chad 1-4 4-4 7; Knudson,Jeff 0-4 0-2 0. Totals 26-56 18-25 73.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON (8-15, 5-9 GNAC) - Van Hook,Jay 6-15 7-7 19; Lynn,Chris 3-8 4-4 11; Lewis,Anthony 3-8 2-4 9; Boast,Kyle 4-7 0-0 9; Conner,Mike 3-7 0-1 6; Thomas,Jay 1-2 2-6 4; Mitchell,Tyler 1-5 2-2 4; Freymond,Scott 2-9 0-0 4; Stoll,Tobi 1-1 1-3 3. Totals 24-62 20-31 71.

Halftime-Seattle Pacific 37, Central Washington 34. 3-point goals-Seattle Pacific 3-16 (Lee,Jordan 2-3; Williams,Chad 1-4; Steele,Ralph 0-1; Knudson,Jeff 0-4; Bremerman,Dustin 0-4), Central Washington 3-16 (Lynn,Chris 1-5; Lewis,Anthony 1-3; Boast,Kyle 1-3;Freymond,Scott 0-3; Conner,Mike 0-2). Fouled out‹Seattle Pacific-Binetti,Tony; Bushmaker,Mike, Central Washington-None. Rebounds-Seattle Pacific 38 (Chivers,Jason 10), Central Washington 38 (Van Hook,Jay 9). Assists-Seattle Pacific 11 (Chivers,Jason 2; Steele,Ralph 2; Williams,Chad 2; Binetti,Tony 2), Central Washington 11 (Stoll,Tobi 3). Total fouls-Seattle Pacific 23, Central Washington 20. A-1628