Daniel Kessler/The Falcon Senior JoJay Jackson (center) hugs senior Rob Will (left) and junior Casey Reed in celebration after winning Saturday’s game against University of Alaska Anchorage.

When they used it during the preseason in Europe, it helped one player score 33 points. All season, the team had been asking to run it more. On Saturday night, for three straight huddles, players clamored for it. And in the most important moment of the year, head coach Jeff Hironaka called for it.

The play SPU men's basketball knows as "diagonal" opened up senior JoJay Jackson to nail a crucial three-pointer with 1:06 remaining in Saturday's game, putting the Falcons up six and vaulting the team to a 65-58 win over conference leader University of Alaska, Anchorage (UAA).

To get an opening for the shot, "diagonal" calls for a screen from senior Rob Will's imposing figure to free Jackson for a diagonal cut at the top of the key.

"Besides the winner at Seattle U (Seattle University, earlier this season), this is the biggest shot of my life," Jackson said. "I'll remember that forever."It was senior night in Royal Brougham on Saturday for the SPU men's basketball team as over a thousand faithful fans sent off Jackson and four others in a postseason-solidifying victory.

Aside from the big screen, Will (20 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks) set a Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) record with 22 consecutive field goals made over the past three games before missing a late tip, and Marques Echols (20 points, four assists) shared high scoring honors for the game. But it was the final three of Jackson's 14 points that made the crowd explode and forced the Seawolves to take contested perimeter shots in the last 60 seconds of the game.

Laura Hanes/The Falcon Senior Filip Popovic runs past a UAF basketball player during Thursday’s game. The Falcons earned a 91-77 later that evening.

Jackson, Will and Echols were joined by Filip Popovic and Jared Moultrie in teary pregame senior ceremonies, with each player being joined by family and cheered by fans.

"There were tears before the game and tears after the game," Echols said. "You're so amped up, so excited, that it's controlled rage."

Prior to taking the court, the Seawolves performed a screaming and dancing routine in the tradition of rugby to hype themselves for the game, but their hype was short-lived.

On their first possession of the game, Luke Cooper got UAA started with a flashy pass to Cameron Burkey for a three-pointer, but the Seawolves point guard went on to commit six turnovers to go with seven assists. Cooper has more than twice as many assists as any other player in the GNAC, but Moultrie hounded him much of the night. The Falcons defended high pick-and-rolls by forcing Cooper to drive himself rather than make the pass.

"Our pressure really got to them," Echols said. "They wore down."

Cooper and teammates Carl Arts and McCade Olsen combined for 66 points when UAA defeated the Falcons in January, but the trio managed only 39 on Saturday, including just 14 in the second half.

"We said to ourselves, 'we got to take this personal and do a better job of slowing them down,'" Will said of UAA's star seniors.

The Seawolves led 35-31 at halftime, and Will picked up two fouls to limit his minutes. The big man played through foul trouble in the second half and had a number of key defensive plays.

Daniel Kessler/The Falcon Senior Jared Moultrie drives down the court against a UAA player.

Two minutes into the half, Will blocked a Cooper layup and passed to Moutlrie, who hit Echols for a pull-up jumper to make it 37-38 and bring the crowd into the game.

SPU slowly began to pull away, building the lead to nine points when Echols hit a three-pointer late in the shot clock with 6:01 remaining to make it 59-50.

Will said that Echols' shot and an earlier three-pointer from Moultrie propelled SPU when they needed an offensive lift. Despite the Seawolves shooting only 26 percent in the second half, UAA took advantage of a five-minute scoreless stretch after Echols' shot to creep within three points at 59-56.

Then, Hironaka called for "diagonal," and Jackson proved ready for the big moment.

"Rob [Will] set the screen for me, and my confidence was sky high," Jackson said of the shot. "It was just something inside me. It was special to me. This night was everything to me."

SPU secured their second win of the week with Echols hitting three of four free throws to close it out.

The first victory came on Thursday as the Falcons took on University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF), topping them, 91-77. The Nanooks had no answer for Will, who set a school record for field goal percentage in a game by going 13- 13 en route to a game-high 28 points.

"Just get the ball to Rob [Will], and he'll finish it," sophomore Adam Wardell said of the Falcon game plan.

Jackson added 18 points, sophomore Brandon Larrieu scored 14 off the bench and Echols finished with 11 assists.

After falling behind 7-0, Hironaka quickly went to his bench, and Larrieu and others provided the ammunition to quickly overcome the deficit. Jackson's layup off an assist by sophomore Rob Diedrichs gave SPU its first lead at 16-15, and the Falcons never trailed again.

"It was kind of a sleeper game," Wardell said. "We came out flat, but the second unit got the energy back up."

After finishing off their home schedule, the Falcons face Western Washington University and Central Washington University on the road to conclude the regular season. Central is one game behind UAA for the conference lead, and both the Wildcats and Falcons will be looking to jockey for postseason positioning in the Western Region.

The Falcons hope the two games will be a platform to vault them to greater heights.

"We have eight games till we win a championship," Jackson said.