By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

LACEY, Wash. – Hoisting its record fifth Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championships trophy on Saturday evening at Marcus Pavilion, No. 3 Seattle Pacific knocked off No. 1 seed Central Washington 72-61 in the tournament title game.
 
The Falcons had control for the majority of the game, out-running the Wildcats to a 33-20 halftime lead and maintaining the spread across the final 20 minutes. GNAC Championships MVP Mason Landdeck had 14 points and six assists, capping off a stellar three-game performance to become the fourth player in school history to claim the honor. “This team has been through so much this year, all the ups and downs – it has been a crazy ride just to get here,” said Landdeck, a first-year Falcon. “We were ready, knew we had to come here and win three to get to March Madness and get into the bracket. Everyone was locked in from the jump, and everyone knew what we had to do.”



Jaxon Nap, the conference’s leading rebounder, grabbed 15 boards in the title game while adding seven points on his way to all-tournament recognition. Junior Owen Moriarty led all players with 20 points in the championship game, making 6 of 8 field goals and 7 of 8 free throws in his 29 minutes on the floor to also land on the all-tournament list. “I just try to be there for my teammates as much as possible, and that helps me take nerves off of myself,” said Moriarty, who also had 18 points in the Falcons’ quarterfinal blowout win over the Alaska Nanooks on Thursday. “I’m just trying to be available for my teammates, do what’s best for them and do what we need to do to win. Keeping my focus on what it takes to win instead of doing things individually definitely helps me stay locked in. Shout out to the coaches – they put together amazing game plans for us three games in a row, and then the guys went out and executed those game plans.”
 

2025 GNAC Men’s Basketball Championships All-Tournament Team
Player	School	Position
Mason Landdeck - MVP	Seattle Pacific	Guard
Jaxon Nap	Seattle Pacific	Guard
Owen Moriarty	Seattle Pacific	Guard
Cavin Holden	Central Washington	Guard
Mitch Brizee	Central Washington	Forward
Kael Robinson	Montana State Billings	Forward

SPU improved to 18-14 on the season and secured the conference’s automatic berth into next week’s NCAA West Region Championships. Central Washington, which won the GNAC regular-season title, moved to 21-9 on the season and will await Sunday’s NCAA selection show to see if it will secure one of the at-large berths into the regional event.
 
The Falcons improved to a perfect 5-0 all-time in GNAC Championships title games – the most trophies in league history. SPU won three straight tournament crowns from 2013-15, and most recently grabbed the title in 2019.
 
 
The teams combined for just five points in the first five minutes of the game, as both sides dug their heels in defensively. Julian Mora knocked down his first look from the arc and Landdeck followed with a layup on the next possession, putting the Falcons ahead 12-4 and prompting the Wildcats to take a timeout with 11:42 to go in the first.
 
Momentum continued in SPU’s favor across the opening period, with Mora knocking down another trey, Nap taking two charges and Jonas La Tour making 4 of 6 shots for nine points. A late bucket by Eli Williams helped the Wildcats end the first on a positive note, but they stared a 33-20 deficit in the face heading into the locker room.
 
The Wildcats made a push at the outset of the second half, stringing together three good possessions in a row to cut the score to 34-26. But the Falcons never let their opponent get closer than that as they built a lead that peaked at 17 points midway through the second.
 
With their backs against the wall, the Wildcats relied on Cavin Holden, the GNAC Player of the Year, to help keep them alive. He darted through the lane for a putback layup and then immediately came up with a steal that led to an open layup to make the score 60-49 with 3:35 to go. SPU never relented, keeping its foot on the gas and closing out the victory in the final minute of play.
 
For CWU, Holden had 14 points and a team-high five assists, while Bradley Swillie led the team in scoring with 17 points and added four rebounds. No other Wildcat reached double figures in scoring, as CWU shot 40.0% overall (24-for-60), 31.8% from 3-point range (7-for-22) and made 6 of 7 free throws (85.7%).
 
“Central is a really good team, they won the conference for a reason and they are really hard to play against,” SPU head coach Keffrey Fazio said on an opponent his team lost to twice during the regular season. “We knew we had to win the tournament to get to the NCAA tournament, so the expectation coming in here was that we had to get three, and we were going to do whatever it took to get three. I’m just really proud of what the group put together, navigating through the three different games we played here. We knew if we were going to win this thing it was going to have to be defense, and I think in all three of the games that was the backbone for us.”
 
The Falcons shot 50.0% (25-for-50) including 46.2% from 3-point range (6-for-13) and made 16 of 20 foul shots (80.0%) in the win. SPU also held a 34-27 advantage on the glass and had 15 assists as a team.
 
TIP OF THE CAP TO MATT MASON: A notable final career performance from the officiating crew in Saturday’s championship game belonged to Matt Mason, who completed a more than three-decade tenure of refereeing games in the Pacific Northwest. Mason was honored on Thursday as the recipient of the Division II Conference Commissioners Association officiating award of excellence, recognizing his service to collegiate basketball and in particular within the GNAC.
 
GAME NOTES: Saturday marked the fifth time that CWU and SPU met in the GNAC Championships and the first time in the championship game…SPU pulled ahead 3-2 in the all-time conference tournament series between the two…SPU claimed its first win of the year over CWU, after dropping both games during the regular season.
 
NCAA SELECTION SHOW: With its win Saturday, SPU earned the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA West Region Championships. The NCAA selection show, which will unveil the 64-team field for the national tournament, will air live on www.ncaa.com on Sunday night at 8 p.m. (Pacific).