Falcon Men Bounce Back at Saint Martin's, 78-76
January 8, 2005

LACEY, Wa. (Jan. 8) ­ Ralph Steele scored six of his 14 points during a decisive run in the final six minutes as Seattle Pacific University came from behind to beat Saint Martin's 78-76 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Saint Martin's Pavilion Saturday night.

Tony Binetti (Jr., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) led the Falcons (3-1, 11-3) with 21 points, including nine in the second half, as they erased a six-point deficit to claim their first road win.

Trailing 67-61, Steele (Sr., 6-2, N. Birmingham, Al.) connected on a mid-range jumper, igniting a burst of 11 unanswered points. He hit another shot for a tie and, with 4:11 remaining, another to give SPU the lead for good. Chad Williams (Jr., 6-8, Burlington, Wa.) capped the surge with a three-pointer to make it 72-67 with 3:09 to go.

The Saints, who have lost 13 straight to the Falcons, trailed by seven before forcing two turnovers in the final minute. Jabbar Gray had a chance to send the game into overtime with 7 seconds left but his attempt missed.

Dustin Bremerman (So., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) hit what proved to be the winning points on two free throws for a 78-71 SPU advantage with 1:19 left. Bremerman scored 11 second-half points and finished 15 and a game-high eight rebounds.

Seattle Pacific trailed virtually the entire opening period and by six at the break, but shot 58 percent from the field, including 6 of 13 three-pointers. Steele made 6 of 8 field goals and Binetti was 8-10 and made all three of his treys. He also had eight assists.

Saint Martin's, which was led by Niko Nunogawa's 25 points, shot just 44 percent and was out-rebounded 35-29. However, SPU committed 23 turnovers. The Saints lost their sixth in a row overall.

The Falcons, whose eight-game win streak was snapped Thursday at Central Washington, had won four times on neutral floors and lost all three road games.

SPU comes home for its next three games, beginning Saturday night against Western Washington.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 78, SAINT MARTIN'S 76
SEATTLE PACIFIC (11-3,3-1) Binetti,Tony 8-10 2-4 21; Bremerman,Dustin 4-6 6-6 15; Steele,Ralph 6-8 2-2 14; Lee,Jordan 4-7 1-2 10; Chivers,Jason 4-6 2-4 10; Williams,Chad 2-5 0-0 5; Knudson,Jeff 0-1 3-4 3; Matzen,Drew 0-4 0-0 0; Bushmaker,Mike 0-0 0-2 0; Birkle,Matt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-48 16-24 78.
SAINT MARTIN'S (4-8,1-2) Nunogawa,Niko 11-16 3-3 25; Wyatt,Solomon 8-11 2-8 18; Dunstan,Trevor 4-8 1-2 10; Gray,Jabbar 4-11 0-0 9; Chirhart,Joe 1-8 4-4 7; Preston,Thomas 1-2 0-0 3; Di Tomassi,Anthony 0-7 2-2 2; Campbell,Brendan 1-2 0-0 2; Rowswell,Thomas 0-2 0-3 0; Moxley,Nick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-67 12-22 76.
Halftime-SMC 39, SPU 33. 3-point goals-SPU 6-13 (Binetti,Tony 3-3; Lee,Jordan 1-1; Williams,Chad 1-3; Bremerman,Dustin 1-3; Matzen,Drew 0-2; Steele,Ralph 0-1), SMC 4-19 (Preston,Thomas 1-2; Chirhart,Joe 1-7; Gray,Jabbar 1-3; Dunstan,Trevor 1-1; Di Tomassi,Anthony 0-4; Nunogawa,Niko 0-2). Fouled out--SPU-None, SMC Wyatt,Solomon. Rebounds-SPU 35 (Bremerman,Dustin 8), SMC 29 (Nunogawa,Niko 7). Assists-SPU 19 (Binetti,Tony 8), SMC 21 (Gray,Jabbar 8). Total fouls-SPU 21, SMC 23. A-234