Charlie Galanti
Seattle Pacific’s men's basketball hosted Western Washington University on Saturday at Royal Brougham Pavilion, winning the game 78-76 on a turnaround floater from SPU guard Theo McMillan. SPU led this game from the opening tip until there were 5 seconds remaining in the contest, when Western tied the game at 76 on a contested layup from guard Aidan Rice. SPU started the game hot, and led by as many as 18 in the first half. Theo McMillian and big man Trace Evans were leading the charge for the falcons in the first half.
Western Washington regrouped at halftime and came out strong, with Dennis Johnson III putting the team on his back and knocking down all types of shots. Western hit 7 three pointers and were 18-21 from the charity stripe in the second half. Still down 14 with six minutes remaining, Western guards Nehemiah Pollard and Dennis Johnson hit back to back 3’s to jumpstart the comeback.
A huge 3 by SPU guard Julian Mora with 2 minutes left put the Falcons back up 8, but Western would find a way to tie it with 5 seconds remaining. Off the inbound pass, McMillian worked his way into the paint, pulled up, and hit a clutch turnaround floater with .4 left on the clock to win the game. Seattle Pacific extends their win streak to 3 games and moves to 12-8 on the year and 7-6 in GNAC play. Western Washington moves to 11-13 and 5-8 in GNAC play. The Vikings are still looking for their first road win of the season.