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

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23 --
Montana State Billings at (#12) Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion (2,650) • Seattle, Wash.

It's not a midterm or final. But, the 12th-ranked Seattle Pacific men (12-2, 3-0) face a significant test just three weeks into the Great Northwest Athletic Conference slate. The league's only two ranked teams clash Thursday, Jan. 21 when SPU visits No. 15 Western Washington (16-2, 3-1). Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Carver Gym in Bellingham where the Falcons won 82-77 on March 13 in the last meeting to knock WWU out of the 2009 playoffs. The SPU men return home on Saturday, Jan. 23 to host Montana State Billings (8-4, 2-1) at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion. SPU won the last six meetings against MSUB. The Falcons entertain the Alaska schools next week, including the Jan. 30 Homecoming game.

Live Game Coverage
Thursday's webcast and LiveStats can be accessed via the official Western Washington athletics website at: www.WWUvikings.com Saturday's webcast can be accessed at: www.PennAtlantic.com and the LiveStats are available at: www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball

Quotable
“I don't think that we're going to have to do anything special to motivate our guys. This is without question the biggest game of the year for us,” says SPU coach Ryan Looney. “We'll spend some time watching tape, figuring out a game plan that's best for us. But in regards to our guys playing hard, there won't be any issues with that.”

Back on Track
The SPU men won their first three GNAC games, capped by a 79-77 win at Western Oregon (Jan. 14). Chris Banchero scored 17 points, including a layup at the buzzer off a length-of-the-court inbounds pass from Jake Anderson. The trio 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 BYU-Hawaii (Dec. 5).

Notable
The Falcons won their first three league games for the first time since the 2006 squad opened conference play with six straight wins ... SPU led at halftime in 12 of 14 games and won 11 of them ... Rob Diederichs distributed 73 assists, more than double that of any other Falcon ... SPU ranks sixth nationally in field goal percentage (51.2%) while limiting opponents to 43.1-percent accuracy ... The Falcons have an 11-0 record in games when shooting better than their opponents.

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).

Scouting Western Washington (16-2, 3-1 GNAC)
> The Vikings went 13-3 in 2009 to win their first outright GNAC championship.

> WWU is the league's stingiest defense, holding opponents to 38.9-percent shooting, while the Falcons' offense is the most accurate in the GNAC at 51.2 percent.

> The Falcons own a 72-45 series lead, including wins in eight of the last nine meetings. SPU won 82-77 at WWU on Mar. 13 in the first round of the 2009 playoffs.

> Western leads the GNAC in scoring margin (+18.0) and the Falcons are second (+13.1).

> In his first season at SPU, Ryan Looney has never coached against the Vikings.

Scouting Montana State Billings (8-4, 2-1 GNAC)
> MSUB's DaVell Jackson leads all GNAC playmakers with 5.9 assists per game while the Falcons Rob Diederichs ranks second at 5.2 apg.

> SPU won the last six encounters to claim a 27-26 edge in the all-time series.

> Second-year Yellowjackets coach George Pfeifer came from Idaho. He has a 1-6 record against the Falcons, including 1-4 as the head coach at Lewis-Clark State.

> First-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has never coached against MSU Billings.

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 eight of 14 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 (58.8%), Adam Wardell (55.9%), Scott Morse (54.5%), Chris Banchero (51.9%), Jake Anderson (51.9%) and Rob Diederichs (51.1%). Wardell tops the Falcons in 3-point accuracy at 54.5 percent.

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 eight times and reached the 20-point plateau on seven occasions. A two-time GNAC Player of the Week, Banchero is averaging 17.3 points per game, a figure that ranks No. 4 in the conference.

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.

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.

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 107-57 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 years as the top assistant at NCAA Division II Minnesota State Moorhead, helping the team to a 33-24 record and a finals berth at 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 two seasons as an assistant at Wisconsin-LaCrosse, where he received his Masters in sports administration in 2001, Looney joined the North Idaho College staff for 2001-02.