Wolves fall to No. 3 Falcons

Seattle Pacific Men's Basketball is at the top of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with an 11-5 overall record and a 4-1 record in the conference. The Falcons came into Monmouth on Thursday night with a mission: show Western why they are the first place team in the GNAC. With 52 percent shooting and a 44-31 rebounding advantage, Seattle Pacific annihilated Western 96-70. In the first half, Seattle Pacific had its way with the Western offense by creating eight turnovers and cruising to a 22-7 offensive run. Seattle Pacific's first five scoring possessions were scored by five different players. Seattle held a 37-19 lead and continued on cruise control, taking a 52-33 lead into the locker room. Stanley Ratcliff, Jr. was leading Western with 10 points while three of Seattle's starting five were in double digits by the half. The second half brought nothing different for Western as Seattle continued to lead. With 12 minutes left in the game, Seattle Pacific had a seemingly insurmountable 70-54 lead. Western's frustrations finally boiled over at the 8:00 mark as Western's Travis Kuhns was called for a foul; he expressed his displeasure to the referee and was hit with an immediate technical foul in addition to the personal foul. A possible attempt to fire up the Western team, the technical foul marked Western's attempt at a comeback. Western cut Seattle's lead to 12 points (70-58), but within two minutes Seattle Pacific worked its lead back up to 83-63. The Falcons once again hit cruise control as they sailed into a 96-70 victory over Western. In the game, Seattle Pacific tied its season high score of 96 points and had eight different players score. Travis Kuhns led Western in all offensive categories with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists.