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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30 --
Western Oregon at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion (2,650) • Seattle, Wash.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 1 --
Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific, 4:15 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion (2,650) • Seattle, Wash.

Webcast for both games: http://spu.nmtvsports.com
LiveStats for both games: www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball

The non-conference schedule is completed and Christmas break is over. The Seattle Pacific men (6-2, 0-0 GNAC) now set their sights on a second straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship. The Falcons start their title defense with two home games, beginning Thursday, Dec. 30 against Western Oregon (6-6, 1-1). Tip-off is 2 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion followed by a women's basketball doubleheader. SPU won the last 11 meetings with the Wolves, but barely escaped Monmouth, Ore. with a win last season on Jan. 14. It took a buzzer-beating layup by Chris Banchero off a long inbounds pass to seal the 79-77 victory. On Saturday, Jan. 1, the SPU men entertain Saint Martin's (8-4, 1-1) at 4:15 p.m. The Falcons won 21 of the last 23 meetings with the Saints.

GNAC Race
SPU is seeking to win the GNAC championship for the fourth time in six years. The Falcons captured the 2010 and 2006 league titles outright and shared the 2007 crown with Seattle University. SPU was projected to win the conference title by the annual coaches poll, receiving eight of 10 first-place votes en route to a 98-point total. Projected to place second, Central Washington collected one first-place vote and 88 points. Montana State Billings was selected third (72 points) followed by Alaska Anchorage (71), which picked up the remaining first-place vote. SPU, which is the poll favorite for the second year in a row, will be gunning for its fifth GNAC title.

Ticket Talk
Tickets to 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 priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students & senior citizens. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special GA rates by calling (206) 281-2085 at least 72 hours in advance.



Non-Conference Recap
SPU won its last five games to complete the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 6-2 record that included a 79-65 home victory over 23rd-ranked Chaminade (Dec. 3), which had beaten NCAA Division I Oklahoma the week before. SPU's losses came in back-to-back games against Dixie State (61-68) and Fort Lewis (82-88).

Brilliant Banchero
Senior point guard Chris Banchero has twice been named the GNAC Player of the Week (Nov. 29 & Dec. 20). He is scoring at a 25.5-point clip, including a career-high 42-point performance at Dominican (Dec. 18). Banchero topped the 30-point plateau three times in the regular season. He was brilliant during the exhibition season, averaging 33.7 points in three outings. Banchero tallied 38 points in a win at Eastern Washington (Nov. 2) and keyed an SPU win at Nevada with 33 points (Nov. 6). He was named the 2010 GNAC and West Region Player of the Year. Banchero posted double-figure points in all but three games last season and averaged 19.6 points to rank No. 2 in the conference.

Fast Facts
• The Falcons have an 8-1 record in all-time GNAC openers. The lone loss came in 2008 at Central Washington.

• Chris Banchero's 42 points at Dominican (Dec. 18) were the fourth most in school history. The SPU single-game record of 54 points was established in 1958 by Loren Anderson.

Next Week
The Falcons make their annual trek north to Alaska. They play at Fairbanks on Jan. 6 and at Anchorage on Jan. 8. Both games tip-off at 8:30 p.m. Pacific Time.

Scouting Western Oregon (6-6, 1-1 GNAC)
> The Wolves lost their last two games, at Hawaii-Hilo and BYU-Hawaii. They have already played two GNAC games, losing 87-78 to Central Washington and beating Northwest Nazarene 81-77.

> WOU's Blair Wheadon ranks fifth among all GNAC players with 16.3 points per game. Tarance Glynn is second in rebounding (8.1 rpg) in the conference and Kolton Nelson is second in 3-point percentage (56.5%).

> Seattle Pacific won the last 11 meetings en route to a 32-12 series advantage over the Wolves. SPU won last season's first meeting in dramatic fashion. Jake Anderson threw a length-of-the-court inbounds pass to Chris Banchero, who hit a layup at the buzzer for a 79-77 Falcons' win in Monmouth, Ore. on Jan. 14, 2010.

> Second-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has a 2-0 record against WOU. He competed against the Wolves during his playing career at Eastern Oregon.

Scouting Saint Martin's (8-4, 1-1 GNAC)
> The Saints won their last two games. They have already played two GNAC games, a 67-49 win over Northwest Nazarene and a 67-65 loss against Central Washington.

> Forward Blake Poole leads all GNAC players in rebounds (10.4 rpg) and is No. 7 in scoring (15.7 ppg). He led the league in both categories last year with 21.0 points and 12.2 rebounds per game.

> The Falcons boast an 87-33 lead in all-time matchups, including a sweep of last year's season series. SPU was victorious in 21 of the last 23 meetings with both losses coming on the road in Lacey, Wash. (2008 & 2009).

> Seventh-year Saints coach Keith Cooper served as an assistant on the SPU staff in 2002-03. He has a 2-13 record against the Falcons. Cooper is married to the former Linda Johnson, a basketball standout who is an SPU Hall of Fame inductee.

> Second-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has a 2-0 record against the Saints.

Exhibition Recap
Senior Chris Banchero reached the 30-point plateau in all three games, leading SPU to a 3-0 exhibition record. The Falcons registered a pair of victories over NCAA Division I opponents. They won 87-82 at Eastern Washington (Nov. 2) led by Banchero's 38 points and nine assists. He led SPU to an 84-81 win with 33 points at Nevada (Nov. 6). Banchero scored 30 and Andy Poling added 20 points and 16 rebounds in an 88-76 home win over Northwest University (Nov. 9).

Home Sweet Home
The Falcons have a 3-1 record this season in Brougham Pavilion where they were victorious in 34 of their last 39 games. SPU was 14-1 last year at home. Brougham Pavilion seats 2,650 spectators. It was built in 1953 and renovated in 1992.

My Three Sons
The Downs family has a legacy with the SPU men's basketball program that began with father Mike who was a four-year Falcons letterman from 1974-77. He is the head boy's basketball coach at Bellevue (Wash.) Christian High School. His three sons are part of the current SPU squad. Jeff is a senior starter in the backcourt who averaged 8.9 points last season while leading the team with 50 treys. Younger brother, David, is a freshman point guard. Oldest brother, Dan, joined the staff this season as an assistant coach. All three Downs brothers hail from Kirkland, Wash. and played for their father at Bellevue Christian.

Chart Climber
Chris Banchero has 1,285 career points to ranks No. 9 among all-time SPU scorers. He needs 11 points to push past the 1,295 points of No. 8 Gregg Kingma (1979-83) and 44 to take over the No. 7 spot from Dave Wortman (1,328 points, 1958-62).

Notable
SPU started conference play last season with seven straight wins en route to a 13-3 GNAC record and first-place finish ... The Falcons have a lopsided 2011 schedule with seven of their first nine games at home during their first swing through the GNAC slate and then seven of their final nine games are on the road ... The SPU men won all five games this season when they led at halftime ... Transfers Andy Poling (6-11, Gonzaga) and Modou Niang (6-10, Utah State) are the tallest tandem in Falcons history.

2010 Preview
The Seattle Pacific men return three starters from last year's team that posted a 22-6 record and made its sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Heading the list of returnees is senior point guard Chris Banchero (Seattle, Wash.), the reigning GNAC and West Region Player of the Year. Banchero averaged 19.6 points and 2.9 assists while converting 52 percent of his shots from the field. A pair of front-line starters are back; senior Ryan Sweet (Port Orchard, Wash.) and junior Jake Anderson (Burlington, Wash.). Sweet tallied 10.3 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game in 2010. Anderson averaged 6.7 points and 4.9 rebounds. The Falcons front line will be bolstered by the addition of two towering transfers from Division I schools. SPU added 6-foot-11 sophomore Andy Poling (Portland, Ore.) from Gonzaga and 6-10 junior Modou Niang (Richard Toll, Senegal) from Utah State.

Looney's Ledger
Ryan Looney led Seattle Pacific to a 22-6 record in 2010 and became the first coach to direct the Falcons to a conference championship in his inaugural season. Looney, who led his alma mater Eastern Oregon University to the quarterfinals of the 2009 NAIA Division II Tournament, was hired May 26, 2009 as the coach at SPU. He won his opening nine games on the SPU sidelines, the first coach to win more than his first three for the Falcons. Looney, 35, has a 123-63 (.661) career record and was voted the 2010 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. 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.

Six-Year Run
The Falcons posted a 126-49 record over the previous six 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, 19-10 in 2009 and 22-6 last season. The 126 combined wins are the second-highest six-year total in school history, topped only by a 131-win run from 1997 to 2002. The Falcons competed in six straight NCAA Division II Tournaments (2005-10), advancing to the national semifinals in 2006.

2010 Review
Coach Ryan Looney directed SPU to a 22-6 record, its sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and a No. 18 final ranking during his first season. He was named the 2010 GNAC Coach of the Year and Chris Banchero was the conference and West Region Player of the Year. The Falcons posted a first-place mark of 13-3 in league play. They lost 76-72 to BYU-Hawaii in the first round of the playoffs in Bellingham, Wash. One of SPU's signature victories was a 78-72 home win on Dec. 5 over that same BYU-Hawaii squad that was ranked No. 1 at the time. The Falcons will look to replace two starters, All-GNAC honorable mention guard Brandon Larrieu and forward Rob Diederichs, who set a new conference single-game record with 19 assists on Feb. 25.