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THURSDAY, JANUARY 7 –
(#17) Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene, 6:00 p.m. PST (7 MST)
Johnson Sports Center (3,500) • Nampa, Idaho

SATURDAY, JANUARY 9 –
Saint Martin's at (#17) Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion (2,650) • Seattle, Wash.

The 17th-ranked Seattle Pacific men's basketball team (9-2, 0-0 GNAC) begins its quest for the league title this week with a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference games. The Falcons visit Nampa, Idaho to play Northwest Nazarene (8-3, 0-0) on Thursday, Jan. 7 at 6 p.m. Pacific Time (7 p.m. Mountain). SPU won seven of the last eight meetings against the Crusaders. The Falcons' conference home opener is Saturday, Jan. 9 against Saint Martin's (10-1, 0-0). Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion.

Slumping SPU
The SPU men seek to get back on track after losing their last two games, at home against Colorado Christian (73-69) and on the road at Grand Canyon (69-68). Those were the only setbacks for the Falcons, who opened the season with nine consecutive victories for their best start in 16 seasons. SPU's signature win was a 78-72 triumph over then No. 1-ranked BYU-Hawaii on Dec. 5 in Seattle.

Live Game Coverage
Thursday's webcast and live stats can be accessed via the official Northwest Nazarene athletics website at: www.NNUsports.com    LiveStats and a free webcast will be available for all SPU men's basketball home games. Saturday's webcast can be accessed at: www.PennAtlantic.com and the LiveStats are available at: www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball

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.

Home Sweet Brougham
The Falcons have a 6-1 record this season in Brougham Pavilion where they were victorious in 23 of their last 27 games. SPU was 9-2 last year at home. Brougham Pavilion seats 2,650 spectators. It was built in 1953 and renovated in 1992.

Notable
Seattle Pacific led at halftime in 10 of 12 games and won nine of them ... Rob Diederichs distributed 53 assists, 23 more than any other Falcon ... SPU ranks eighth nationally in field goal percentage (51.2%) while limiting opponents to 43.5-percent accuracy ... The Falcons have an 8-0 record in games when they shoot better than their opponents.

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.

Next Week
The Falcons visit Western Oregon on Thursday Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m.

Scouting Northwest Nazarene (8-3, 0-0 GNAC)
> The Crusaders, from Nampa, Idaho, are undefeated (4-0) in home games.

> NNU leads all GNAC teams in 3-point shooting (41.0%) led by Drew Eisinger, who has 24 treys and shoots 48 percent beyond the arc.

> Seattle Pacific leads the all-time series 43-22, including wins in seven of the last eight meetings. SPU swept the season series last year, winning 63-59 in Seattle (Jan. 21) and 87-82 in Nampa (Feb. 14).

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

Scouting Saint Martin's (10-1, 0-0)
> The Saints won their last five games and their only loss was a 67-58 decision at Grand Canyon on Dec. 4.

> Forward Blake Poole is averaging 20.7 points on 68 percent shooting while grabbing 12.3 rebounds per game. He is the lone returning starter from last year's 22-8 SMU squad that finished fourth in the GNAC with a 10-6 record.

> The Falcons boast an 85-33 lead in the all-time series. The teams split the 2009 series, each winning at home. SPU won last year's GNAC opener 92-84 on Jan. 8 and the Saints were 85-72 victors on Feb. 28.

> Sixth-year Saints coach Keith Cooper served as an assistant on the SPU staff in 2002-03. He has a 2-11 record as a head coach against the Falcons. Cooper is married to the former Linda Johnson, a basketball standout who is an SPU Hall of Fame inductee.

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

Marvelous Marksmen
Six 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. 8 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 six of 11 games this season, topped by a 66-percent effort against Carroll College (Dec. 4). Ryan Sweet ranks No. 2 in the GNAC at 62.7 percent. Also at 50 percent for SPU are Adam Wardell (60.0%), Rafael Moreira (57.6%), Rob Diederichs (54.1%), Chris Banchero (52.6%) and Scott Morse (50.0%). Wardell tops the Falcons in 3-point accuracy at 55.6 percent.

Dynamic Diederichs
Senior wing Rob Diederichs (Shoreline, Wash./Shorewood) boasts a fine all-around game, ranking first on the team in assists (53), third in steals (15), fourth in rebounds (3.4 rpg) and blocked shots (4) and sixth in scoring (5.3). Diederichs ranks fourth among GNAC playmakers (4.82 apg) and led or tied all SPU assisters in eight of 11 games. Diederichs erupted for 36 points in a Nov. 5, 2007 exhibition at Washington.

Recent Recap
SPU lost its last two games, halting a nine-game winning streak. The Falcons fell 73-69 at home vs. Colorado Christian (Dec. 30) despite 22 points from Chris Banchero. Brandon Larrieu poured in 24 points, but Grand Canyon overcame a six-point deficit during the final minute to win 69-68 in Phoenix (Jan. 2).

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 104-57 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.