By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

LACEY, Wash. – Julian Mora scored a season-high 15 points to help lead the No. 3 seed Seattle Pacific men’s basketball team to a 73-68 win over No. 2 seed Northwest Nazarene in the semifinals of the 2025 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championships.
 
Eleven of Mora’s points came in the second half, as he made 6 of 7 shots including 3 of 4 threes in his 20 minutes on the floor. “I was just waiting until I was open, and focused on catch-and-shoot,” said Mora. “One of the things I provide to this team is shooting, and Mason and my other teammates did a good job of finding me with the ball. In these moments you have to stay ready, and trust the work you put in.”
 
Mason Landdeck led all players with 24 points on 8-for-15 shooting, including 5-for-10 from downtown, as the Falcons finished one shy of the GNAC Championships record with 13 made threes in the game. The 50.0% mark from long range (13-for-26) was the second highest of the season for the Falcons, while the Nighthawks shot just 21.1% (4-for-19) from the arc. “They are super physical down low, and we had to match that,” said Landdeck. “Shout out to (Jaxon) Nap – he killed his matchup he had and shut down their leading scorer to six.”
 
First-team all-GNAC guard Jaxon Nap just missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds, helping the Falcons to a 37-36 edge on the glass. SPU improved to 17-14 on the season and will face the winner of No. 5 Montana State Billings and No. 1 Central Washington for the GNAC Championships title on Saturday evening at 5:15 p.m. (Pacific). “They are the most physical team in our conference and it showed in the first half,” said SPU head coach Keffrey Fazio. “I thought our guys did a really good job coming out of the locker room of settling those nerves. If you’re going to beat a quality team in March, you have to shoot the ball well. These guys made 13 threes in a GNAC semifinal game, and that’s a big number. I’m grateful I have such talented players who are able to rise to these moments they are in.”
 
Northwest Nazarene’s season came to an end in the GNAC semifinals for the second straight year, as they finished at 20-7 overall. GNAC Defensive Player of the Year Yaru Harvey led his team with 19 points and five rebounds while Easton Reagan added 11 points and Sullivan Menard also reached double digits with 10.
 
Landdeck got off to a hot start Friday, knocking down a pair of early shots including a trey that put SPU up 17-12 seven minutes into the game.
 
First-teamers Nap and Kye Dickson of NNU engaged in an all-out battle throughout the game as two of the conference’s top three rebounders went head to head. NNU’s Ryzin Bergersen, the 2023 GNAC Championships MVP, got his game going midway through the first with a pair of buckets to keep his team close, trailing 19-18. The Nighthawks finished the first half strong to take a 32-30 edge into the locker room after a tightly-contested opening 20 minutes.
 
Harvey had a pair of steals in the opening two minutes of the second half which led directly to five points, as the Nighthawks stretched their advantage to 37-30. The Falcons responded immediately however, embarking on an 8-0 capped off by another three from Landdeck to re-establish the lead at 38-37.
 
Eight of the Falcons’ 13 treys came during a second half in which they out-scored the Nighthawks 43-36, a factor that ultimately dictated the outcome of the game. Owen Moriarty had seven points and eight rebounds for SPU, which racked up 18 assists in the victory.
 
Mora was just off his career best of 18 points, which he reached on Nov. 5, 2023 against Daemen. The hot 3-point shooting by the Falcons came against the same opponent as their worst outing of the year – when they made just 3 of 18 treys in a 67-55 loss to NNU on Jan. 18.
 
Harvey had six points down the stretch for the Nighthawks, and a last-ditch three by Menard pulled them within one possession down 71-68 with nine seconds left. But Landdeck iced the game with a pair of free throws to push it out of reach.
 
NNU shot 41.5% (27-for-65) overall and made 10 of 16 free throws (62.5%) while the Falcons hit at a clip of 47.2% (25-for-53 overall and made 10 of 12 foul shots (83.3%). NNU committed a season-low two turnovers, and the Falcons had just eight giveaways.
 
GAME NOTES: The tournament record of 14 threes was set by Alaska Anchorage on March 3, 2022 and matched by Montana State Billings on March 8, 2024…The Falcons won the rubber match between the teams, who split their regular-season meetings…NNU is now 6-7 all-time at the GNAC Championships and made its eighth appearance…SPU is in the conference tournament for the 13th time and holds an overall record of 13-8 in tournament games…the Falcons are a perfect 4-0 in GNAC Championships title games and have the most tournament crowns of any GNAC men’s team.
 
UP NEXT: SPU will await the winner of No. 5 seed Montana State Billings and No. 1 seed Central Washington, who meet in Friday’s second semifinal contest. The men’s championship game is set to tip off at 5 p.m. (Pacific) on Saturday evening.