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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (Mar. 22) – Unfazed by its foe’s comeback bid, Seattle Pacific University surged past Montevallo in the final eight minutes to seal a spot in the NCAA Division II men’s basketball semifinals Wednesday.

Mike Bushmaker was one of the ringleaders who led SPU on a 10-0 run in the latter part of the second half that secured the Falcons' move to the national semifinals. The team will face Virginia Union Thursday. Photo by Richard Orr

With Tony Binetti scoring 12 of his 19 points in the second half, the 10th-ranked Falcons (26-5) beat their 7th-ranked namesakes from Alabama, 79-65, in the first national quarterfinal game at the MassMutual Center. SPU will play defending champion Virginia Union Thursday at 3 p.m. Pacific time for a place in Saturday’s NCAA championship game.

After seeing a 12-point lead evaporate, Seattle Pacific hit back by finishing the game with a 20-6 run.

Dustin Bremerman (Jr., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) started the spree with a three-pointer from the left corner, giving SPU the lead for good at 62-59. “We kept looking forward and didn’t get worried,” said Bremerman, who scored 15 points, sinking three treys.

Mike Bushmaker (Sr., 6-7, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) sliced inside for a layup and Binetti (Sr., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) finished the string of 10 unanswered points, hitting a pair of free throws and completing a three-point play. The latter produced a 69-59 advantage with 5:08 left.

“We’re a bunch of senior guys that have been around, and even though we struggled there for a bit, there wasn’t a lot of panic,” said Binetti, who was 10 for 10 from the line.

“It wasn't a pretty game, but we got some good shots to help us win the game,” said SPU coach Jeff Hironaka. “We got a little frustrated with ourselves. Fortunately we were able to weather that storm.”

Montevallo (29-5) trailed 45-33 in the opening moments of the second half but caught fire from the outside and forced some poor shots by SPU to achieve a 50-50 tie. Although Seattle Pacific was never overtaken, it could not take command until the final minutes.

This marks only the second time that Seattle Pacific has advanced to the semifinal stage, also doing so in 2000. It has now won six in a row.

Virginia Union (28-6) beat Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 60-58, in the second quarterfinal. Later Wednesday night, Barton (NC) and Winona State (Mn.) were to meet, followed by Stonehill (Ma.) and Tarleton State (Tx.) in the nightcap.

The Falcons are 19-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field. They hit 55.6 percent (27-50), including 6 of 12 first-half three-pointers to help forge a 41-33 intermission lead. Montevallo made just 43 percent (28-65) and missed 13 of 15 treys.

“I thought we were able to negate their big three (offensive stars), at least doing enough to frustrate them,” said Hironaka. “At the other end, we were able to get decent, high-percentage shots.”

Bremerman scored 15 points, Bushmaker 14 off the bench and Robbie Will (So., 6-10, Seattle, Wa./O’Dea) had 10 plus eight rebounds.

Montevallo was paced by the 18 of Greg Brown and 17 for Marcus Kennedy. It finished with a 36-31 rebounding advantage but after scoring 10 second-chance points in the early minutes, got only two thereafter.

“The biggest thing is that we could never get into an offensive rhythm. We gave up too many easy baskets and let them shoot too many free throws,” added Montevallo head coach Danny Young.

Thursday’s game will be carried live on CSTV with Bob Picozzi calling the action and Dan Bonner providing commentary. The game will be available to Comcast digital subscribers immediately afterward via On Demand. Action can also be heard live via BroadcastMonsters.com.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 79, MONTEVALLO (ALA.) 65
SEATTLE PACIFIC (26-5) BINETTI, Tony 4-8 10-10 19; BREMERMAN, Dustin 5-9 2-2 15; BUSHMAKER, Mike 7-12 0-3 14; WILL, Robbie 4-6 2-4 10; WILLIAMS, Chad 3-6 2-2 9; LYNCH, Brian 2-3 0-0 5; MOULTRIE, Jared 1-2 2-4 4; MATZEN, Drew 1-4 0-0 3; KNUDSON, Jeff 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-50 18-25 79.
MONTEVALLO (ALA.) (29-5) BROWN, Greg 7-20 3-3 18; KENNEDY, Marcus 7-11 3-4 17; SHARPE, Robert 6-11 1-3 13; HALL, James 5-14 0-2 10; JERMAN, Jamil 2-5 0-0 5; ROBINSON, Darron 1-2 0-0 2; MILLER, Dayton 0-1 0-0 0; URBANSKI, Grant 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-65 7-12 65.
Halftime-SPU 41, MU 33. 3-point goals-SPU 7-21 (BREMERMAN, Dustin 3-7; LYNCH, Brian 1-2; MATZEN, Drew 1-3; BINETTI, Tony 1-4; WILLIAMS, Chad 1-4; BUSHMAKER, Mike 0-1), MU (Ala.) 2-15 (BROWN, Greg 1-5; JERMAN, Jamil 1-4; HALL, James 0-4; MILLER, Dayton 0-1; URBANSKI, Grant 0-1). Fouled out--JERMAN, Jamil, MU. Rebounds-SPU 31 (WILL, Robbie 8), MU (Ala.) 36 (SHARPE, Robert 9). Assists-SPU12 (MOULTRIE, Jared 4), MU (Ala.) 7 (BROWN, Greg 4). Total fouls-SPU 12, MU 17. NCAA Division II Elite Eight quarterfinal game.