• Complete Release (pdf)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3 --
Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion • Seattle, Wash.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5 --
Alaska Fairbanks at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m. PST (Senior Night)
Brougham Pavilion • Seattle, Wash.

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

In the midst of a season-best six-game winning streak, the Seattle Pacific men's basketball team (14-5, 8-3 GNAC) plays at home this week for the final time during the regular season. The third-place Falcons are one-half game behind second-place Alaska Anchorage (16-5, 8-2), which visits on Thursday, Feb. 3. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion for the second-place showdown. UAA won the last two meetings against the Falcons, both in Anchorage, but lost in its last six trips to Seattle. On Saturday, Feb. 5 SPU entertains Alaska Fairbanks (6-11, 3-7) and the nation's leading scorer Parrish West, who averages 28.6 points per game. A 6-foot-5 forward, West surpassed the 30-point plateau in each of his last six games, including two 40-point outbursts. The Falcons close out the regular season with five consecutive road games, beginning next Wednesday, Feb. 9 against GNAC-leading Central Washington in a game that airs live at 7 p.m on FSN Northwest.

Senior Salute
A ceremony to honor SPU seniors Chris Banchero, Jeff Downs, Grant Hope and Ryan Sweet will be conducted prior to team introductions for Saturday's game. That may not be the final home game for the senior quartet as the top four teams in the final standings will host first-round games on Feb. 28 to open the inaugural GNAC Tournament.



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 six games, capped by Monday's 77-68 victory at Saint Martin's. Ryan Sweet's 24-point, 11-rebound double-double paced the Falcons, who limited national rebounding leader Blake Poole (11.7) to six boards. 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.

Player of the Week
Senior Ryan Sweet, who led SPU to a pair of victories, was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday. The 6-foot-6 Sweet amassed 39 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists while shooting 63 percent (14 of 24). His 25-point outburst helped SPU erase a 12-point second-half deficit en route to a 77-59 win at Western Oregon. Sweet converted all seven of his free throws last week, including four during the final 16 seconds of a regionally televised 69-61 home win over Western Washington (Jan. 26). He compiled 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in that contest.

Notable
Senior Jeff Downs has 898 career points and needs 102 more to become the 31st 1,000-point scorer in SPU history ... Downs has more than three times as many 3-pointers as any other Falcon. He leads the GNAC with 61 treys, averaging 3.2 per game ... Freshman point guard David Downs is averaging 8.8 points and 6.6 assists during the last eight games since replacing the injured Chris Banchero in the starting lineup.

Scouting Alaska Anchorage (16-5, 8-2 GNAC)
> UAA boasts the GNAC's stingiest defense, yielding just 63.1 points per game while the Falcons produce 77.3 points per game to rank No. 5 offensively.

> The Seawolves lead the all-time series 32-24, including wins in the last two meetings that were both contested in Alaska. Anchorage won 78-61 on Jan. 8.

> The Falcons beat UAA 68-66 on Feb. 19, 2009 in Seattle on a last-second, 35-foot banker by Casey Reed, who is now a graduate assistant on the Seawolves staff.

> The SPU men won the last six games against the Seawolves played in Seattle.

> In his second season at SPU, Ryan Looney has a 2-1 record against the Seawolves.

Scouting Alaska Fairbanks (6-11, 3-7 GNAC)
> The Nanooks feature high-scoring senior Parrish West, whose 28.6-point average leads the nation. West surpassed 30 points in each of his last six games, averaging 35.2 points during that span.

> UAF leads the GNAC with 8.9 steals per game, led by Boe Edwards who is the league's individual leader with a 2.8-steal average that ranks No. 8 nationally.

> The Falcons lead the all-time series 48-15 and won six of the last seven meetings.

> Second-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has a 2-1 record against Alaska Fairbanks.

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 averages 16.0 points while leading the conference with 61 treys. Younger brother, David, is a freshman point guard. Jeff has started all 19 games this season and David assumed the starting point guard role for the last eight 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.

1,000 & Counting
Seattle Pacific registered the 1,000th victory in its 68-year history with a 69-61 home win over Western Washington on Jan. 26 that was televised on FSN Northwest. SPU's all-time record is 1,002-674 since the program was founded in 1943-44.

TV Time
The SPU men will appear on live television at least twice this season on FSN Northwest. In addition to the Jan. 26 broadcast from Brougham, 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.

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 (6.8 rpg) and field goal percentage (59.7%). Included in that stellar shooting is 43-percent accuracy (13 of 30) from 3-point range. He ranks second on the team in steals (15) and third in both assists (51) and blocks shots (7). A second-year Falcon after transferring from Whatcom (Wash.) Community College, Sweet has eight career double-doubles.

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 131-66 (.662) career record, including a 36-11 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.