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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26 --
Western Washington at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion • Seattle, Wash. (FSN Northwest Television)
• Webcast: http://spu.nmtvsports.com
• LiveStats: www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball

Two Northwest rivals. One regional television broadcast. A potential 1,000th win for the Seattle Pacific men's basketball program. The numbers say it all about the Wednesday, Jan. 26 clash between Seattle Pacific (11-5, 5-3 GNAC) and Western Washington (10-6, 5-3). Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion on the SPU campus for the game that will be televised live on FSN Northwest. The Falcons have a 999-674 all-time record since the program was founded in 1943-44. SPU won 10 of the last 11 meetings with the Vikings, including a sweep of last year's season series. Wednesday marks the midway point of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule for the Falcons and ends their five-game homestand. SPU plays seven of its final nine regular season games on the road, starting Saturday, Jan. 29 at Western Oregon with a 7:30 p.m. game in Monmouth, Ore.

On the Air
FSN Northwest will televise Wednesday's game live throughout the region at 7 p.m. Brad Adam will call the action with color commentary from Francis Williams.

TV Time
The SPU men will appear on live television at least twice this season on FSN Northwest. In addition to Wednesday's home game, the Falcons' Feb. 9 contest at Central Washington will be broadcast at 7 p.m. SPU hopes for a third TV game as FSN will air the March 4 GNAC Tournament championship game at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.

Ticket Talk
SPU basketball tickets can be purchased at Brougham Pavilion on game day. Reserved center court seats are $8 and other sideline seats are $7. General admission tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for students & senior citizens. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special general admission rates by calling (206) 281-2085 in advance.



Recent Recap
The SPU men won their last three games, including a pair of home victories last week. They defeated Simon Fraser 81-57 on Thursday as brothers Jeff and David Downs accounted for the first 10 points en route to a combined 34-point effort. On Saturday in front of a Homecoming crowd of 1,106 the Falcons needed overtime to subdue Montana State Billings 72-65. Jeff Downs matched his career high with 25 points. SPU completed the non-conference portion of its 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.

Notable
Senior Jeff Downs has 850 career points. He needs 150 more to become the 31st 1,000-point scorer in SPU history ... Downs has more than twice as many 3-pointers as any Falcon. He leads the GNAC with 53 treys, averaging 3.3 per game ... The Jan. 6 injury to Chris Banchero forced the Falcons to be more efficient collectively. Assists have set up 74 percent of their baskets since he was sidelined, compared to 62 percent beforehand. SPU was credited with assists on 27 of 33 field goals in the Jan. 15 win over Northwest Nazarene ... Freshman point guard David Downs is averaging 10.2 points and 5.8 assists with only 10 turnovers during the last five games since replacing the injured Banchero in the starting lineup ... The Falcons ended up winning 10 of the 11 games in which they led at halftime, but have a 1-4 record when trailing at the break ... Transfers Andy Poling (6-11, Gonzaga) and Modou Niang (6-10, Utah State) are the tallest tandem in Falcons history.

Scouting Western Washington (10-6, 5-3 GNAC)
> Wednesday's game is a clash of the last two GNAC champions. SPU won the 2010 crown with a 13-3 league ledger and the Vikings were 2009 titlists, also 13-3.

> Western, which lost its last two games, is led by the 15.4 points of 6-foot-6 senior forward Michael Duty, a product of Seattle's O'Dea High School.

> The Vikings lead the GNAC in scoring at 86.1 points per game, while SPU surrenders just 69.1 points per game to rank No. 3 in the league.

> The Falcons own a 74-45 series advantage, including wins in 10 of the last 11 meetings with WWU. SPU's current series winning streak is three games, including a 67-65 victory on Feb. 18, 2010 in Seattle during the most recent meeting.

> Western is coached for the 26th season by Brad Jackson, who served as an assistant on the SPU staff for five years under Keith Swagerty from 1976-80. Jackson is married to the former Debbie Halle, an SPU All-America gymnast from 1974-77.

> In his second season at SPU, Ryan Looney has a 2-0 record against the Vikings.

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. Jeff has started all 16 games this season and David assumed the starting point guard role for the last five outings. 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.

Home Sweet Home
The Falcons have a 7-3 record this season in Brougham Pavilion where they were victorious in 38 of their last 45 games. SPU was 14-1 last year at home. Brougham Pavilion seats 2,650 spectators. It was built in 1953 and renovated in 1992.

Banchero Sidelined
All-American Chris Banchero's brilliant collegiate career was cut short by a knee injury suffered with 12:52 left in the first half of an 84-61 win at Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 6. The senior point guard sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee. The 2010 GNAC and West Region Player of the Year, Banchero garnered All-America accolades after his 19.6 points per game led the Falcons to a 22-6 record. SPU won the GNAC title and made its sixth straight NCAA Division II playoff appearance. Entering the game in which he was injured, Banchero was scoring at a 24.0-point clip, including a career-high 42-point performance at Dominican (Dec. 18).

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).

Sweet Senior
Ryan Sweet delivers an outstanding all-around performance every night for SPU. The 6-foot-6 senior leads the Falcons in rebounds (6.6 rpg) and field goal percentage (58.5%). Included in that stellar shooting is 44-percent accuracy (10 of 23) from 3-point range. He ranks third on the team in assists (40), steals (14) and blocks shots (6). A second-year Falcon after transferring from Whatcom (Wash.) Community College, Sweet has eight career double-doubles.

2011 Preview
The Seattle Pacific men returned three starters from last year's team that posted a 22-6 record and made its sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. 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 is 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 128-66 (.660) career record, including a 33-11 mark at SPU. He was voted the 2010 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. Looney 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.

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 predicted to win the 2011 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 bidding for its fifth GNAC title.

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.

Next Game
Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon
Saturday, Jan. 29, 7:30 p.m. PST
New PE Building/Monmouth, Ore.