SEATTLE (Jan. 15) ­ Dustin Bremerman and Tony Binetti scored 18 points apiece as Seattle Pacific University took sole possession of second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference by beating 14th-ranked Western Washington 76-68 at Brougham Pavilion Saturday night.

Tony Binetti had 18 points in the Saturday night game against WWU that was won by the Falcons, 76-68. File photo courtesy Dan Carver

The Falcons (4-1, 12-3) put together a key eight-point spurt to take a 65-56 lead with five minutes left to remain unbeaten (7-0) at home and win their 10th in the last 11 games overall. They trail Alaska Fairbanks, which was undefeated in its first five GNAC games.

"It was an important win for us because we're playing the top couple teams in the league over the next week at home," said SPU Coach Jeff Hironaka. "It wasn't pretty; I was expecting a score more like 90-80. But we stepped it up defensively and I feel particularly good about that."

Chad Williams (Jr., 6-8, Burlington, Wa.B/Edison-Whatcom CC) had the final six of the eight unanswered points. He twisted underneath for a layup and a three-point play, then connected on a 22-footer from the right side. Another Williams basket with 3:39 left gave Seattle Pacific its biggest advantage at 67-57.

Western Washington managed to close the gap to 70-66 with 69 seconds to go but Binetti (Jr., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) responded by sinking two free throws and feeding Mike Bushmaker for a basket on the break.

The Vikings (3-2, 11-3) were led by Grant Dykstra's 16 points. Craig Roosendaal came off the bench for 15. Western shot just 32 percent (22-68) from the field, including 24 percent in the second period. It came into the game averaging nearly 92 points per game.

Seattle Pacific shot 47 percent (25-56) and made 8 of 17 treys. It finished with a 47-42 edge in rebounds, with Jason Chivers (Sr., 6-8 ,Los Angeles, Ca.) collecting 10 of his 13 after intermission.

Bremerman (So., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) hit 3 of 5 three-pointers while Binetti made a pair from outside the arc. Williams contributed 15 points and nine rebounds.

Western led by as much as six in the first half, thanks to 12 fastbreak points. The Falcons compensated for nine turnovers by shooting 50 percent and out-rebounding the Vikings 22-16.

The Falcons remain home next week, hosting Alaska Anchorage Thursday night and Alaska Fairbanks Saturday afternoon.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 76, WESTERN WASHINGTON 68
WESTERN WASHINGTON (3-2, 11-3) Dykstra,Grant 7-15 1-2 16; Roosendaal,Craig 4-9 3-5 15; Diggs,Ryan 5-9 2-4 12; Amaya,Tyler 1-11 8-8 10; Jackson,Kyle 2-10 2-2 7; MacMullen,Tyler 1-9 1-2 3; Henne,Lukas 1-1 0-0 2; Vermeulen,Preston 1-1 0-0 2; Visser,Darrell 0-0 1-2 1; Weisner,Brett 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-68 18-25 68.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (4-1, 12-3) Bremerman,Dustin 6-12 3-4 18; Binetti,Tony 5-9 6-7 18; Williams,Chad 6-10 1-2 15; Lee,Jordan 2-9 6-8 10; Bushmaker,Mike 3-5 1-4 8; Steele,Ralph 2-7 0-0 4; Chivers,Jason 1-1 1-7 3; Matzen,Drew 0-2 0-0 0; Knudson,Jeff 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-56 18-32 76.
Halftime-WWU38, SPU 37. 3-point goals-WWU 6-22 (Roosendaal,Craig 4-7; Jackson,Kyle 1-4; Dykstra,Grant 1-5; Weisner,Brett 0-2; Amaya,Tyler 0-3; Diggs,Ryan 0-1), SPU 8-17 (Bremerman,Dustin 3-5; Binetti,Tony 2-2; Williams,Chad 2-4; Bushmaker,Mike 1-1; Matzen,Drew 0-1; Knudson,Jeff 0-1; Steele,Ralph 0-1; Lee,Jordan 0-2). Fouled out--WWU-Diggs,Ryan, SPU-Williams,Chad. Rebounds-WWU42 (MacMullen,Tyler 11), SPU 47 (Chivers,Jason 13). Assists-WWU 9 (Jackson,Kyle 3; Dykstra,Grant 3), SPU 13 (Binetti,Tony 4). Total fouls-WWU 26, SPU 21. A-1572