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     • LiveStats for Dec. 12

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12 --
(#12) Seattle Pacific at Cal State East Bay, 3:00 p.m. PST
Pioneer Gymnasium / Hayward, Calif.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19 --
Grand Canyon at (#12) Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.

After final exams are completed in the classroom this week the 12th-ranked Seattle Pacific men's basketball team (6-0) has a test on the hardwood. The Falcons travel to Hayward, Calif. for a non-conference game against Cal State East Bay (2-3), Saturday, Dec. 12 at 3 p.m. The Pioneers are first-year NCAA Division II members after competing in the NAIA playoffs last season. SPU won all eight previous meetings against the former Cal State Hayward, which changed its named to East Bay in 2005. The Falcons are fresh off a 78-72 victory over top-ranked BYU-Hawaii. SPU hosts Grand Canyon on Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.

Stellar Start
Seattle Pacific is off to a 6-0 start for the first time in 11 years. The 1998-99 SPU squad won its first six games before dropping game No. 7. If this year's Falcons win on Saturday, they will be off to the school's best men's basketball start since the 1993-94 squad opened with an 11-0 mark.

LiveStats
Follow the progress of Saturday's road game via the internet. A LiveStats link is available at the Cal State East Bay website: www.edschool.csueastbay.edu/departments/kpe/athletics/stats/xlive.htm There is no webcast available for Saturday's game

Notable
Ryan Looney is the only coach in SPU history to win his first six games. Previously, the best start by an SPU head coach was established by Looney's predecessor Jeff Hironaka, who won his first three games in 2002-03. Hironaka is now an assistant on the Washington State staff ... SPU is shooting 53 percent as a team (162 of 307) while limiting opponents to 43-percent accuracy (147 of 343) ... The Falcons are listed No. 12 in the men's rankings and No. 19 in the women's poll. SPU is one of only three schools with teams ranked in both polls, joining Arkansas Tech (10/24) and Minnesota State (14/11) ... SPU is outrebounding opponents by seven boards per game (36.2 to 29.2).

Ranking Report
Seattle Pacific climbed six spots to No. 12 in this week's (Dec. 1) National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll. The Falcons moved into the NCAA Division II rankings in the No. 24 position on Nov. 24 in the first regular-season poll, their first ranking in two years. SPU was 18th in last week's poll.

Player of the Week
Junior Chris Banchero, whose 20 points helped 18th-ranked SPU upset the nation's top-ranked team, was honored Monday for the second time this season with the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week award for men's basketball. The 6-foot-1 point guard combined for 28 points and eight assists in the two-game SPU Tournament at Brougham Pavilion. He converted 14 of 19 shots from the field en route to all-tournament team honors. Banchero hit 10 of 14 shots on Saturday, fueling the Falcons' 78-72 triumph over No. 1 BYU-Hawaii. He sank back-to-back baskets late in the game to seal the victory. On Friday, Banchero delivered eight points and five assists in an 86-73 win over Carroll College. He also received the GNAC Player of the Week award on Nov. 23.

Ticket Talk
Season tickets for SPU men's basketball games are still available, assuring a seat in the best location for every home game. Call 206-281-2085 to get your season tickets now. Individual game tickets for SPU men's basketball games can be purchased at Brougham Pavilion (3414 Third Ave. W., Seattle 98119) on game day. Reserved seats are $8 for center court locations and $7 for other sideline areas. General admission tickets are priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special general admission rates by calling (206) 281-2085 in advance. SPU students and staff are admitted free with i.d.

Recent Recap
The Falcons swept both games in the SPU Tournament behind all-tournament selections Brandon Larrieu and Chris Banchero. Larrieu dropped in 19 points in an 86-73 win over Carroll College (Dec. 4). Banchero's 20 points lifted SPU to a 78-72 upset of No. 1-ranked BYU-Hawaii (Dec. 5).

Scouting Cal State East Bay (2-3)
> The Pioneers are first-year NCAA Division II competitors after competing in the NAIA playoffs last season.

> Scott Knox is CSU East Bay's all-time 3-point leader with 127 career treys.

> In his 13th year, Will Biggs is two victories shy of 200 wins as the Pioneers coach.

> The Falcons won all eight previous meetings, including an 83-62 decision on Dec. 16, 1993 in Hayward, Calif. during the most recent meeting.

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

Five-Year Run
The Falcons registered a 104-43 record over the previous 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.

Looney's Ledger
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 opening six games on the SPU sidelines, the first coach to win more than his first three for the Falcons. Looney, 34, has a 101-55 career record and won his 100th game on Dec. 4 against Carroll College. He 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 had a 25-8 record, including 14 consecutive victories, before 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 Masters in sports administration in 2001, Looney joined the staff at North Idaho College for 2001-02.

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. SPU's final non-conference home games are Dec. 19 against Grand Canyon and Dec. 29-30 in the Falcon Invitational.