Complete Box Score

SEATTLE (Jan. 28) ­ Scoring 15 of his 24 points in the final eight minutes, Tony Binetti led 7th-ranked Seattle Pacific University to a hard-fought, 82-73 homecoming victory over Seattle University before the season's biggest crowd at Brougham Pavilion Saturday.

It was the Falcons' (8-1, 16-2) ninth straight home win and fourth in a row over the Redhawks (4-5, 11-7). The win also lifted Seattle Pacific into a tie for first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in light of Western Washington's 108-97 loss at Humboldt State.

Seattle U. held the lead for much of the game, including a 9-point bulge early in the second period, but a Dustin Bremerman (Sr., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) three-pointer with 10 minutes left gave SPU the lead for good and Binetti (Sr., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) seized control in the final minutes.

With the shot clock winding down, Binetti twisted his way down the lane for a reverse layup, making it 74-71 with 4:10 remaining. He later converted a baseline drive and six free throws and scored the Falcons' final 13 points.

Binetti finished 6 of 9 from the field, including 4-5 on three-pointers, and had six assists.

Bremerman added 16 points and Chad Williams (Sr., 6-8, Burlington, Wa.) had 14.

Bernard Seals paced the Redhawks with 21­15 coming in the first half.

"We got a good team effort but obviously Tony stepped up and made some big plays for us down the stretch," said SPU coach Jeff Hironaka.

"We were a little nervous, and it took us awhile to settle in," he added. "The key was when they went man we were able to capitalize on it. You have to be patient with their zone."

Seattle Pacific committed 15 turnovers but collected 10 more rebounds than SU. The Falcons shot 52 percent from the field (24-46) to 49 percent for the visitors.

Seattle U. forged an 8-point lead in the first half, only to have SPU respond with 19-7 to retake the lead, 38-34. A three-pointer by Sam Kirby capped 13-2 burst for the Redhawks to go ahead 54-45 four minutes into the second half.

Williams and Mike Bushmaker (Sr., 6-7, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) combined for the game's next eight points to tighten the contest prior to Bremerman's bomb.

SPU resumes it four-game home stand Thursday when it hosts Humboldt State at 7.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 82, SEATTLE UNIVERSITY 73
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY (4-5, 11-7) Seals,Bernard 7-17 3-4 21; Swanson,Leigh 4-7 3-4 11; Kirby,Sam 4-5 0-0 10; Moore,Adam 4-5 0-0 9; McDaniel,Jeffrey 4-8 0-1 8; Namanny,Sean 3-9 0-0 7; Webb,Ryan 3-6 0-0 6; White,David 0-2 1-2 1; Rainey,Scott 0-0 0-0 0; Coldren,Ryan 0-0 0-0 0; Burl,Shaun 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-59 7-11 73.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (16-2, 8-1) Binetti,Tony 6-9 8-8 24; Bremerman,Dustin 5-10 2-2 16; Williams,Chad 5-10 3-3 14; Bushmaker,Mike 3-4 5-8 11; Will,Robbie 3-7 3-7 9; Matzen,Drew 1-2 2-2 5; Moultrie,Jared 1-3 0-0 3; Lynch,Brian 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-46 23-30 82.
Halftime-SPU 43, SU 41. 3-point goals-SU 8-19 (Seals,Bernard 4-8; Kirby,Sam 2-2; Moore,Adam 1-1; Namanny,Sean 1-5; McDaniel,Jeffrey 0-1; Swanson,Leigh 0-2), SPU 11-26 (Binetti,Tony 4-5; Bremerman,Dustin 4-9; Williams,Chad 1-6; Matzen,Drew 1-2; Moultrie,Jared 1-3; Lynch,Brian 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-SU 25 (Webb,Ryan 9), SPU 35 (Will,Robbie 7). Assists-SU 17 (Webb,Ryan 6), SPU 17 (Moultrie,Jared 6; Binetti,Tony 6). Total fouls-SU 21, SPU 12. A-1654