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THURSDAY, JANUARY 28 –
Alaska Anchorage at (#11) Seattle Pacific, 7:30 p.m. PST
SUITS & SNEAKERS GAME • Brougham Pavilion (2,650) • Seattle, Wash.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 30 –
Alaska Fairbanks at (#11) Seattle Pacific, 3:30 p.m. PST
HOMECOMING GAME • Brougham Pavilion (2,650) • Seattle, Wash.

The 11th-ranked Seattle Pacific men (14-2, 5-0 GNAC) play five of their next six games at home, beginning with an eventful pair of games this week. The first-place Falcons entertain Alaska Anchorage (12-4, 3-2) on Thursday, Jan. 28 in the Suits & Sneakers Game for cancer awareness. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion following the women's 5:15 p.m. contest. On Saturday, Jan. 30 Alaska Fairbanks (6-8, 1-4) visits for SPU's annual Homecoming doubleheader. The women play at 1:30 p.m. and the men's game is at 3:30 p.m. The SPU men lead the GNAC by two games in the loss column.

Suits & Sneakers Game
Ryan Looney and his Seattle Pacific coaching staff will be participating in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the American Cancer Society's National Coaches vs. Cancer Awareness Weekend at their Jan. 28 game at Brougham Pavilion. NABC member coaches across the country will wear sneakers at the weekend's games, to show support for the 18-year-old Coaches vs. Cancer program that has raised more than $25 million in direct support for the Society. At Thursday's game, fans can make donations and get more information about this fund-raising program.

Homecoming
Falcons fans can purchase tickets on-line at www.spufalcons.com for both Seattle Pacific basketball doubleheaders this week, including Saturday's annual Homecoming games. The Falcons entertain Anchorage in women's basketball on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. followed by the men's nightcap at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, the women again play the opener, tipping off the Homecoming doubleheader at 1:30 p.m. against Fairbanks. The men meet UAF at 3:30 p.m. with special Homecoming festivities set for halftime. A complete schedule of campus Homecoming events is available on-line at: www.spu.edu

Live Game Coverage
LiveStats and a free webcast will be available for all SPU men's basketball home games. The webcast can be accessed at: www.PennAtlantic.com and the LiveStats are available at: www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball

Notable
The Falcons won their opening five league games for the first time since the 2006 squad started conference play with six straight wins ... Rob Diederichs has distributed 85 assists, nearly double that of any other Falcon ... The SPU men are undefeated in the 13 games in which they outshot 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.

Scouting Alaska Anchorage (12-4, 3-2 GNAC)
> UAA boasts the GNAC's stingiest defense, yielding just 61.1 points per game.

> The Seawolves lead the all-time series 30-23. SPU won the last meeting 68-66 on Feb. 19, 2009 in Seattle on a last-second 35-foot banker by senior Casey Reed, who is now a graduate assistant on the UAA coaching staff.

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

Scouting Alaska Fairbanks (6-8, 1-4 GNAC)
> The Nanooks are the GNAC's second-highest scoring team at 81.5 points per game. They have three of the league's top-five scorers in No. 1 Parrish West (22.3 ppg), No. 4 Emmanuel Jenkins (17.5) and No. 5 Jon Moe (15.7).

> UAF beat Saint Martin's 77-76 in its last outing, stopping a four-game losing skid.

> The Falcons lead the all-time series 46-14 and won the last four meetings.

> First-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has never coached against Alaska Fairbanks.

Player of the Week
Senior Brandon Larrieu, who helped SPU remain undefeated in league play with a pair of victories last week, received the GNAC Player of the Week award for men's basketball on Jan. 24. The 6-foot wing player combined for 34 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the field, including 6 for 11 on 3-pointers. He also compiled seven assists and four steals. Larrieu scored a team-high 18 points on Thursday (Jan. 21) in a 73-66 triumph against No. 15 Western Washington in Bellingham. His 15-foot, fade-away jumper with 1:12 remaining broke a 66-66 tie and ignited a seven-point game-closing run for the Falcons. Larrieu distributed five assists for SPU, which dealt the Vikings their first home loss in nine outings this season. On Saturday (Jan. 23), Larrieu tallied of 11 of his 16 points during the second half to spark a comeback from an 11-point deficit for a 79-69 home win over Montana State Billings. He hit 4 of 6 treys.

Marvelous Marksmen
Six players are shooting 50 percent or higher for the Falcons, who combine to hit shots at a conference-leading 51.8-percent clip. They rank No. 5 nationally after finishing the 2009 campaign as the nation's second-best shooting squad at 51.8 percent. SPU shot better than 50 percent in nine of 16 games this season, topped by a 66-percent effort against Carroll College on Dec. 4, and won all nine of those contests. Rafael Moreira leads the Falcons, shooting at a 60.2-percent clip. Also at 50 percent for SPU are Ryan Sweet (58.3%), Adam Wardell (59.0%), Chris Banchero (52.8%), Jake Anderson (51.6%) and Scott Morse (50.0%).

Home Sweet Brougham
The Falcons have an 8-1 record this season at home in Brougham Pavilion where they were victorious in 25 of their last 29 games. SPU was 9-2 last year at home. Brougham Pavilion seats 2,650 spectators. It was built in 1953 and renovated in 1992.

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.

Back on Track
The SPU men won their first five GNAC games, capped by a 79-69 home win over Montana State Billings (Jan. 23). The five 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).

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 nine times and reached the 20-point plateau on eight occasions. Banchero poured in a career-high 27 points against Montana State Billings on Jan. 23. A two-time GNAC Player of the Week, Banchero is averaging 17.9 points per game, a figure that ranks No. 3 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.

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 109-57 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 and 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. Looney is the 11th head coach for the SPU program that began sponsoring intercollegiate men's basketball in 1946.