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MAC MARTIN INVITATIONAL
Acker Gym • Chico, Calif.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27 --
(#24) Seattle Pacific vs. Sonoma State, 5:30 p.m. PST
Lewis & Clark vs. Chico State, 7:30 p.m. PST

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 --
Lewis & Clark vs. Sonoma State, 5:30 p.m. PST
(#24) Seattle Pacific vs. Chico State, 7:30 p.m. PST

The Seattle Pacific men's basketball team (2-0) embarks on its first road trip of the season, heading to Chico, Calif. for the 50th-annual Mac Martin Invitational. The Falcons take on Sonoma State (0-2) on Friday, Nov. 27 at 5:30 p.m. in Acker Gym. SPU won all four previous meetings with the Seawolves. On Saturday, Nov. 28 the Falcons clash with host Chico State (0-0) at 7:30 p.m. SPU owns a 10-1 advantage in the all-time series. Last weekend, the Seattle Pacific men won their inaugural two games under first-year coach Ryan Looney, who compiled a 95-55 record in five years at Eastern Oregon.

LiveStats
Follow the progress of both road games this week via the internet. A LiveStats link is available at the official Chico State website:  www.chicowildcats.com

Notable
Seattle Pacific's 81-63 win over Dominican, Calif. on Nov. 20 was its eighth straight victory in a home opener ... Ryan Looney became the fifth of 11 all-time coaches to win his regular-season debut on the SPU sidelines ... Post Rafael Moreira had an 18-point, 14-rebound double-double in the opener. He registered six double-doubles last season.

Player of the Week
Junior Chris Banchero, who led Seattle Pacific to a pair of 18-point, season-opening victories, received the GNAC Athlete of the Week award for men's basketball on Monday. The 6-foot-1 point guard scored 42 points, nearly one quarter of the Falcons' total, and received the MVP award after the two-day Sodexo Tip-Off Classic at Brougham Pavilion. Banchero made 12 of 26 shots from the field and converted 17 of 18 free throws. He contributed seven rebounds, four assists and four steals during the tournament. Banchero poured in 22 points Saturday to lead all scorers in SPU's 88-70 win over Cal State Monterey. He tallied 20 points in Friday's 81-63 decision against Dominican (Calif.).

Ranking Report
Seattle Pacific moved into the NCAA Division II rankings in the No. 24 position of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll that was released Tuesday. The Falcons (2-0) are ranked for the first time in two years. SPU is one of five teams that jumped into the first regular-season rankings after being overlooked in the preseason poll. The Falcons are joined by newcomers LeMoyne, West Virginia State, Arkansas Tech and Drury. Top-ranked BYU Hawaii visits SPU next weekend.

Ticket Talk
Season tickets for SPU men's basketball games are still available. They can be obtained by calling 206-281-2085. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special general admission rates by calling (206) 281-2085 at least 72 hours in advance.

Next Week
The Falcons return home to Brougham Pavilion to host the four-team Seattle Pacific Tournament, Dec. 4-5. SPU plays Carroll College on Friday and top-ranked BYU Hawaii on Saturday. The Falcons play the 7 p.m. game both nights, following a 5 p.m. time slot during which Central Washington plays the same two opponents in reverse order.

Exhibition Recap
The SPU men won both of their exhibition games, defeating Simon Fraser 82-59 on Nov. 6 before routing the Blue Angels 116-79 on Nov. 14. Jeff Downs was perfect from 3-point range, scoring all 18 of his points on treys in the Blue Angels game. The Falcons hit 15-of-24 treys, including 12-of-16 after halftime. Chris Banchero and Brandon Larrieu each had 13 points to lead SPU over Simon Fraser.

Scouting Sonoma State (0-2)
> The Seawolves lost their first two games, falling 77-76 to Hawaii Pacific on a last-second 3-pointer and 89-62 against Concordia-Irvine.

> Sonoma posted a 12-16 record last season, placing sixth in the CCAA at 8-12.

> The Falcons won all four previous games against Sonoma, including a 75-68 overtime decision on Dec. 18, 1995 in Rohnert Park, Calif. in the most recent meeting.

> First-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has never coached against Sonoma State.

Scouting Chico State (0-0)
> The Wildcats open their season Friday against Lewis & Clark on the opening day of their Mac Martin Invitational.

> A big roster turnover has 11 players making their debut in Chico State uniforms.

> The Wildcats have three starters back from last season's 8-19 squad.

> The Falcons won the most recent meeting 84-80 on Nov. 20, 2004 in Seattle to take a 10-1 series advantage. Chico's lone win came at home (93-91) on Nov. 28, 2003.

> First-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has never coached against the Wildcats.

Five-Year Run
The Falcons registered a 104-43 record over the last five seasons, more victories than any Great Northwest Athletic Conference team during that span. SPU compiled a 20-9 record in 2005, 26-6 in 2006, 18-10 in 2007, 21-8 in 2008 and 19-10 last season. The 104 combined wins are the second-highest five-year total in school history, topped only by a 113-win run from 1998 to 2002. The Falcons have competed in five straight NCAA Tournaments (2005-09), advancing to the national semifinals in 2006.

2010 Preview
Four starters and 12 lettermen return for Seattle Pacific, which posted a 19-10 record last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Falcons were picked first in the GNAC coaches poll. Heading the list of returnees is a trio of conference all-stars. Junior point guard Chris Banchero was a second-team All-GNAC pick who led the team with 15.7 points per game. Senior post Rafael Moreira and senior wing Brandon Larrieu were honorable mention selections. Moreira averaged 11.8 points and 6.4 rebounds while Larrieu scored at a 14.6-point clip last year. The biggest task will be replacing starting forward Casey Reed, a second-team All-GNAC selection. The roster is bolstered by the addition of 6-7 junior post Ryan Sweet (Port Orchard, Wash.) and 6-7 freshman wing Scott Morse (Central Point, Ore).

2009 Review
First-year Seattle Pacific coach Ryan Looney inherits a team that posted a 19-10 record in 2008-09 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II tournament. The Falcons placed third in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with an 11-5 record. They were the league's last surviving team in the postseason after eliminating champion Western Washington in the first round. SPU advanced to the regional semifinal before losing 80-72 to eventual national runner-up Cal Poly Pomona. Just one letterman, senior forward Casey Reed, and coach Jeff Hironaka departed from last year's team.

Coaches Poll
Seattle Pacific was projected to win the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title by the annual coaches poll released Oct. 28. Despite having won three GNAC championships, this is the first time the Falcons have been selected atop the conference poll. They captured the 2006 league title and were co-champions in 2002 and 2007. SPU received four first-place votes en route to its 76-point total. Last year's GNAC champion Western Washington was picked second in the poll. The Vikings tallied 72 points and also had four votes for the top spot. Central Washington, last season's runner-up, picked up the other first-place vote to finish third with 59 points. Alaska Anchorage was slotted fourth in the balloting, followed by Montana State Billings, Northwest Nazarene, Alaska Fairbanks, Saint Martin's and Western Oregon.

Coach Looney
Ryan Looney, who led Eastern Oregon University to the quarterfinals of the 2009 NAIA Division II Tournament, was hired May 26, 2009 as the men's basketball coach at Seattle Pacific. He won his first two games on the SPU sidelines. Looney, 34, compiled a 95-55 record in five seasons with Eastern Oregon. His Mountaineers won 63.3 percent of their games, the best winning percentage among all-time EOU coaches. Looney directed EOU to back-to-back NAIA Tournament appearances in 2008 and 2009, stopping the school's postseason drought that dated to the 1950s. His Mountaineers won the 2008 Cascade Collegiate Conference championship, their first title in 38 years, and shared the conference crown in 2009. The 2009 EOU squad registered a 25-8 record, including 14 consecutive victories, before suffering an 80-79 NAIA quarterfinal setback against No. 1-ranked and eventual national champion Oklahoma Wesleyan. Looney is the 11th head coach for the SPU program that began sponsoring intercollegiate men's basketball in 1946. He replaced Jeff Hironaka, who left after 18 years on the Falcons staff, the last seven as the head coach, to become an assistant coach at Washington State. Looney was hired as Eastern Oregon's head coach in May of 2004. He served the previous two seasons as the top assistant at NCAA Division II Minnesota State University Moorhead, helping the team to a 33-24 record and a berth in the finals of the 2002 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament. He played collegiately at Eastern Oregon from 1996-98, averaging 7.2 points in 53 career games. An NAIA All-America scholar athlete, Looney still holds the school's career free throw accuracy record at 89.5 percent. After graduating in 1998 from EOU, Looney got his first head coaching job in 1998-99 at Cove High School. After working two seasons as an assistant at Wisconsin-LaCrosse, where he received his Master of Science in sports administration in 2001, Looney joined the staff at North Idaho College for the 2001-02 season.

The Schedule
Local basketball fans will have plenty of opportunities to watch the Seattle Pacific men's basketball team as the Falcons play at home for 17 of the 29 games on their 2009-10 schedule. The Falcons play five games against teams that participated in the postseason last year, including a non-conference contest on Dec. 5 in Seattle against BYU-Hawaii. The Seasiders were the top seed from the West Region in the 2009 NCAA Tournament. The SPU men have two four-team tournaments remaining at home, Dec. 4-5 and Dec. 29-30.