SEATTLE (Dec. 29) ­ Jason Chivers fueled a second-half surge, scoring 15 of his 21 points after the break, to send Seattle Pacific University to its seventh straight win, 98-76 over Wisconsin Parkside in the first round of the Oak Harbor Freight Lines Holiday Classic Wednesday night at Brougham Pavilion.

Shooting 72 percent (26-36) in the second period, the Falcons (9-2) blew open what had been a close contest, outscoring the visitors 57-37. Dustin Bremerman (So., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) added 18 points, Tony Binetti (Jr., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) 17 and Jordan Lee (Sr., 6-1, Tacoma, Wa./Life Christian) 14 as SPU remained unbeaten at home.

Chivers (Sr., 6-8, Los Angeles, Ca.) mostly worked inside, converting 7-8 field goals in the final period and 10-13 overall. He had two close-range baskets during a 7-0 spurt which quickly expanded a two-point halftime lead to 52-41 in the first 3:11 of the period.

Ralph Steele (Sr., 6-2, No. Birmingham, Al.) had the final four points of a 13-4 run to push SPU in front, 67-49 with 12:24 left. The lead eventually swelled to 26 points with seven minutes to go. It was the fifth time during the win streak that SPU has scored 90 or more points.

The Rangers (3-8), coming off a win at Division I Illinois Chicago last week, got 17 points from Kyle Clark and 16 from Joe Czechowiscz. After a hot start, W-P made just 3-14 three-pointers in the second half and were out-rebounded 35-28.

Seattle Pacific shot 10-22 on treys with Bremerman making 4-6 and Binetti 3-4. SPU had 28 assists on 42 field goals. Lee passed for a career-high eight assists and Binetti had seven.

In the first half, the Falcons withstood an early barrage of three-pointers by the Rangers before taking the lead late. Czechowiscz hit four treys and had 14 points in the first five minutes and Parkside eventually went up by eight when Clark scored his seventh straight point for a 25-17 advantage.

Seattle Pacific responded by going inside. Four of their final five baskets in the period were within 8 feet of the basket. Chivers put SPU in front for good, 39-38.

The Falcons face Puget Sound in the final game of the tournament Thursday at 7.

In the first game of the tourney, Seattle University (5-5) knocked Puget Sound (6-1), the No. 3 team in Div. III, from the unbeaten ranks, 87-85 on a put-back shot by Jeff McDaniel at the buzzer.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 98, WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE 76
WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE ((0-0) 3-8) Clark, Kyle 6-8 3-5 17; Czechowicz, Joe 5-13 2-2 16; Deacon, Tyrone 5-8 4-4 15; Boutelle, Kevin 6-9 0-0 12; Malkowski, Gareth 2-8 0-0 5; Ferstenou, Brad 1-4 2-2 4; Wesolowski, Chuck 1-4 1-1 3; Preston, Brad 1-5 0-0 3; Skatrud, Josh 0-1 1-2 1; Maday, Steve 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-61 13-16 76.
SEATTLE PACIFIC ((2-0) 9-2) Chivers,Jason 10-13 1-1 21; Bremerman,Dustin 6-11 2-2 18; Binetti,Tony 7-8 0-0 17; Lee,Jordan 6-14 0-0 14; Steele,Ralph 4-7 0-0 8; Bushmaker,Mike 3-4 0-0 6; Matzen,Drew 3-5 0-0 6; Knudson,Jeff 1-2 0-0 3; Gabelein,Tim 1-2 0-0 2; Williams,Chad 1-4 0-0 2; Birkle,Matt 0-0 1-2 1; Yuen,Austin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 42-70 4-5 98.

Wisconsin-Parkside............ 39 37 - 76 
Seattle Pacific............... 41 57 - 98

3-point goals-Wisconsin-Parkside 9-27 (Czechowicz, Joe 4-10; Clark, Kyle 2-3; Preston, Brad 1-4; Deacon, Tyrone 1-3; Malkowski, Gareth 1-6; Maday, Steve 0-1), Seattle Pacific 10-22 (Bremerman,Dustin 4-6; Binetti,Tony 3-4; Lee,Jordan 2-5; Knudson,Jeff 1-2; Williams,Chad 0-3; Matzen,Drew 0-1; Steele,Ralph 0-1). Fouled out--Wisconsin-Parkside-None, Seattle Pacific-Williams,Chad. Rebounds-Wisconsin-Parkside 28 (Boutelle, Kevin 5), Seattle Pacific 35 (Bremerman,Dustin 7). Assists-Wisconsin-Parkside 16 (Deacon, Tyrone 5), Seattle Pacific 28 (Lee,Jordan 8). Total fouls-Wisconsin-Parkside 13, Seattle Pacific 15. A-668