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HAYWARD, Calif. – Chris Banchero hit four 3-pointers inside the opening five minutes en route to a 20-point performance Saturday that carried 12th-ranked Seattle Pacific to an 89-60 non-conference men's basketball victory over Cal State East Bay at Pioneer Gymnasium.

The Falcons improved to 7-0 and are off to their best start in 16 years. The 1993-94 SPU squad reeled off 11 consecutive wins to start the season.

CSU East Bay, which dropped to 2-4, is the Falcons' fourth victim from the California Collegiate Athletic Association. SPU defeated Cal State Monterey Bay, Sonoma State and Chico State earlier this season.

Banchero netted the game's first two baskets, both 3-pointers. He scored 39 seconds into the contest and again 35 seconds later to give the Falcons the lead for good.

By the 15:34 mark, when Banchero made his fourth shot without a miss, SPU led 14-6. He finished with 16 first-half points for the Falcons, who steadily stretched the margin to 49-31 by halftime.

SPU shot 60 percent in the first half, hitting 15 of 25 shots from the field, including 8 of 14 treys.

Banchero needed just four second-half points to register his fifth 20-point effort of the season. The 6-foot-1 junior point guard from Seattle's O'Dea High School leads SPU with 17.6 points per game.

Senior post Rafael Moreira (Brasilia, Brazil) scored 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting for the Falcons, who also got 12 from junior Ryan Sweet (Port Orchard, Wash./South Kitsap HS).

Mark Samuels tallied 16 points to lead the Pioneers and Donavon Jackson added 10.

The Falcons opened the second half with an 18-7 run, featuring points from six different players, to put the game away. SPU shot 56 percent for the game (31 of 55), while limiting the Pioneers to 40 percent (23 of 58).

The Seattle Pacific men return to action on Saturday, Dec. 19 with a home game against Grand Canyon. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion on the SPU campus.


NCAA Men's Basketball
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Pioneer Gymnasium/Hayward, Calif.

Seattle Pacific 89, Cal State East Bay 60

SEATTLE PACIFIC (7-0)
Banchero, Chris 5-10 6-8 20; Moreira, Rafael 7-9 4-4 18; Sweet, Ryan 5-7 0-0 12; Wardell, Adam 3-5 0-0 7; Larrieu, Brandon 3-8 0-0 6; Downs, Jeff 1-3 3-4 6; Anderson, Jake 2-4 2-2 6; Diederichs, Rob 1-1 2-2 5; Morse, Scott 2-3 0-0 4; Campanaro, Chauncey 1-3 0-0 3; Vranes, Colby 1-2 0-0 2; Hope, Grant 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-55 17-20 89.

CAL STATE EAST BAY (2-4)
Samuels, Mark 6-16 3-6 16; Jackson, Donavon 4-5 2-2 10; Owens, Demitrius 2-6 1-2 6; Green, Adam 1-3 3-3 5; Noisat, Jacob 2-6 0-0 4; Parker, Ryan 2-4 0-0 4; McWirt, Frankie 2-5 0-2 4; Freedman, Will 1-4 1-2 3; Rubin, Jawaan 1-1 1-2 3; Uchida, Jun 1-3 1-2 3; Waters, Jared 1-1 0-2 2; Flemings, Melvin 0-0 0-0 0; Pope, Prince Ray 0-0 0-0 0; Knox, Scott 0-1 0-0 0; Gatson, Saeed 0-3 0-2 0. Totals 23-58 12-25 60.

Seattle Pacific...............   49   40  -   89
Cal State East Bay........   31   29  -   60

3-point goals--Seattle Pacific 10-20 (Banchero, Chris 4-7; Sweet, Ryan 2-2; Campanaro, Chauncey 1-1; Diederichs, Rob 1-1; Downs, Jeff 1-3; Wardell, Adam 1-1; Vranes, Colby 0-1; Larrieu, Brandon 0-4), Cal State East Bay 2-11 (Samuels, Mark 1-4; Owens, Demitrius 1-2; Green, Adam 0-1; McWirt, Frankie 0-1; Uchida, Jun 0-1; Knox, Scott 0-1; Jackson, Donavon 0-1). Fouled out--Seattle Pacific-None, Cal State East Bay-None. Rebounds--Seattle Pacific 32 (Sweet, Ryan 7), Cal State East Bay 34 (Noisat, Jacob 5). Assists--Seattle Pacific 23 (Diederichs, Rob 9), Cal State East Bay 8 (Jackson, Donavon 2). Total fouls--Seattle Pacific 19, Cal State East Bay 18. Technical fouls--Seattle Pacific-None, Cal State East Bay-None. Att.-153.