Chivers, Late Falcons Surge Send Seattle Pacific Past Saints, 87-74
Date

Season and Game Stats

SEATTLE (Feb. 2) ­ Jason Chivers poured in 29 points and grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds as 13th-ranked Seattle Pacific University made a decisive late surge to beat Saint Martin's 87-74 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference Wednesday night at Brougham Pavilion.

Ralph Steele (Sr., 6-2, No. Birmingham, Al) sparked the Falcons (8-2, 16-4) with seven of his nine points coming at the start of a 14-1 run and they went on to win their 10th in a row at home and sixth in the last seven overall. SPU remains atop the GNAC standings, one win ahead of Western WashChivers (Sr., 6-8, Los Angeles, Ca.) played the entire 40 minutes, scoring all of his 13 field goals (in 18 attempts) within 10 feet of the basket. His rebound total was the most by an SPU player in 17 years and ties for No. 7 all-time.ington.

Trailing 63-60, Chivers converted a layup and free throw to open the decisive surge. Steele connected on a transition three-pointer and a pull-up 19-footer to put SPU in front, 68-63. Chivers later capped the burst with a dunk for a 74-64 advantage. Overall, the Falcons outscored Saint Martin's 21-5 over a six-minute stretch.

Jabbar Gray had 21 points and Niko Nunogawa for the Saints (5-5, 8-11), who lost their 14th in a row to SPU.

Dustin Bremerman (So., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) added 15 for Seattle Pacific, including eight in the final nine minutes. Chad Williams (Jr., 6-8, Burlington, Wa.) had 12 points and seven rebounds.

Behind Chivers, Seattle Pacific dominated the boards, out-rebounding SMC 43-22. It also shot 53 percent (34-64) from the floor. It was 11th straight game that the Falcons have out-scored the opposition in the second half.

Chivers and Nunogawa battled to a statistical standoff in the first half, each scoring a dozen points as the Saints went to the locker room ahead 41-40. Seattle Pacific enjoyed a 24-11 advantage in rebounds but committed eight turnovers.

SPU hosts Central Washington in the annual homecoming game Saturday afternoon at 3:30.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 87, SAINT MARTIN'S 74
SAINT MARTIN'S (5-5 GNAC, 8-11) Gray,Jabbar 7-12 4-4 21; Nunogawa,Niko 9-18 1-1 20; Dunstan,Trevor 5-8 2-2 12; Wyatt,Solomon 4-8 1-4 9; DiTomassi,Anothony 3-5 0-0 6; Chirhart,Joe 2-7 0-0 5; Campbell,Brendan 0-2 1-2 1; Rowswell,Thomas 0-0 0-0 0; Preston,Thomas 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-61 9-13 74.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (8-2 GNAC, 16-4) Chivers,Jason 13-18 3-5 29; Bremerman,Dustin 5-10 4-6 15; Williams,Chad 5-9 0-0 12; Binetti,Tony 3-6 4-4 10; Steele,Ralph 3-8 2-3 9; Lee,Jordan 3-8 0-0 8; Birkle,Matt 1-2 0-0 2; Bushmaker,Mike 1-2 0-0 2; Knudson,Jeff 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-64 13-18 87.
Halftime-SMC 41, SPU 40. 3-point goals-SMC 5-18 (Gray,Jabbar 3-5; Nunogawa,Niko 1-4; Chirhart,Joe 1-6; DiTomassi,Anothony 0-2; Preston,Thomas 0-1), SPU6-20 (Lee,Jordan 2-5; Williams,Chad 2-4; Steele,Ralph 1-3; Bremerman,Dustin 1-4; Knudson,Jeff 0-1; Binetti,Tony 0-2; Chivers,Jason 0-1). Fouled out -none. Rebounds-Saint Martin's College 22 (Nunogawa,Niko 5), SPU 43 (Chivers,Jason 20). Assists-SMC 18 (Chirhart,Joe 5), SPU 18 (Binetti,Tony 5). Total fouls-SMC 15, SPU 14. A-439