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THURSDAY, JANUARY 14 --
(#15) Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon, 7:30 p.m. PST
New PE Building (2,473) • Monmouth, Ore.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 21 --
(#15) Seattle Pacific at (#19) Western Washington, 7:00 p.m. PST
Carver Gymnasium (2,534) • Bellingham, Wash.

Great Northwest Athletic Conference play is in full swing for the 15th-ranked Seattle Pacific men's basketball team (11-2, 2-0 GNAC), which hits the road for the next two games. The first-place Falcons visit Western Oregon (7-6, 0-2 GNAC) in their only game this week. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at the P.E. Building in Monmouth, Ore. SPU is vying for its 10th consecutive victory against the Wolves. Next week the Falcons visit No. 19 Western Washington on Jan. 21 before hosting Montana State Billings on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m.

Back on Track
The SPU men won their first two conference games last week. Chris Banchero tallied 21 points to lead an 82-71 win at Northwest Nazarene (Jan. 7). The Falcons got nine assists and seven rebounds from Rob Diederichs in an impressive 81-63 home win over Saint Martin's (Jan. 9). That pair of victories came after SPU suffered back-to-back losses, at home against Colorado Christian (73-69) and at Grand Canyon (69-68). Those are the only setbacks for the Falcons, who opened the season with nine consecutive victories for their best start in 16 seasons. SPU's signature non-conference win was a 78-72 home triumph over then No. 1-ranked BYU-Hawaii on Dec. 5.

Live Game Coverage
Thursday's webcast and live stats can be accessed via the official Western Oregon athletics website at: www.WOUwolves.com

GNAC Race
SPU is seeking to win the GNAC championship for the third time in five years. The Falcons captured the 2006 title outright and shared the 2007 crown with Seattle University. They placed third last year, behind WWU and CWU. SPU was projected to win the league 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. 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 (see complete poll on page 3).

Notable
Seattle Pacific led at halftime in 11 of 13 games and won 10 of them ... Rob Diederichs distributed 69 assists, 34 more than any other Falcon ... SPU ranks sixth nationally in field goal percentage (51.2%) while limiting opponents to 42.6-percent accuracy ... The Falcons have a 10-0 record in games when shooting better than their opponents.

Brilliant Banchero
Junior point guard Chris Banchero posted double-figure points in all but one game this season (Dec. 4 vs. Carroll). He led all SPU scorers seven times and reached the 20-point plateau on seven occasions. Banchero is averaging 17.3 points per game, a figure that ranks No. 4 among GNAC players.

Ticket Talk
Tickets for SPU 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 $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. Call (206) 281-2085 for group rates.

Scouting Western Oregon (7-6, 0-2 GNAC)
> After opening with a 6-2 record, the Wolves lost four of their last five games.

> WOU's Blair Wheadon leads all GNAC players with 2.6 steals per game and Rico Myles ranks No. 2 with 8.5 rebounds per outing.

> Seattle Pacific won the last nine meetings en route to a 30-12 series advantage over the Wolves. SPU swept the season series last year, winning 96-70 in Monmouth (Jan. 29) and 83-77 in Seattle (Feb. 12).

> First-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has never coached against WOU, but competed against the Wolves during his playing career at Eastern Oregon.

Marvelous Marksmen
Seven players are shooting 50 percent or higher for the Falcons, who combine to hit shots at a conference-leading 51.2-percent clip. They rank No. 6 nationally after finishing the 2009 campaign as the nation's second-best shooting squad at 51.8 percent. SPU shot 50 percent or better in seven of 12 games this season, topped by a 66-percent effort against Carroll College (Dec. 4). Rafael Moreira leads the Falcons, shooting at a 60.2-percent clip. Also at 50 percent for SPU are Ryan Sweet (59.0%), Adam Wardell (55.2%), Rob Diederichs (53.7%), Chris Banchero (51.7%), Jake Anderson (50.0%) and Scott Morse (50.0%). Wardell tops the Falcons in 3-point accuracy at 54.5 percent.

Dynamic Diederichs
Senior wing Rob Diederichs (Shoreline, Wash./Shorewood) boasts a fine all-around game, ranking first on the team in assists (69), fourth in rebounds (4.1 rpg) and steals (15), fifth in blocked shots (4) and sixth in scoring (4.9 ppg). Diederichs ranks second among GNAC playmakers (5.3 apg) and led or tied all SPU assisters in 10 of 13 games. Diederichs erupted for 36 points in a Nov. 5, 2007 exhibition at Washington.

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.

Ranking Report
Seattle Pacific rose two spots, to No. 15 in this week's (Jan. 12) NCAA Division II men's basketball rankings compiled by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). The Falcons were included for the first time in two years with a No. 24 listing in the initial regular-season rankings after being overlooked in the preseason poll. SPU has been ranked ever since, climbing to as high as No. 6 on Dec. 22. The Falcons were ranked18th on Dec. 1, 12th on Dec. 8 and 17th on Jan. 5.

Home Sweet Brougham
The Falcons have a 7-1 record this season at home in Brougham Pavilion where they were victorious in 24 of their last 28 games. SPU was 9-2 last year at home. Brougham Pavilion seats 2,650 spectators. It was built in 1953 and renovated in 1992.

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 SPU 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.

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 nine games on the SPU sidelines, the first coach to win more than his first three for the Falcons. Looney, 34, has a 106-57 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.