• First-Round Recap: SPU 76, CWU 63
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NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
West Regional / Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
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SATURDAY, MARCH 12 (Regional Semifinals)
Game 5 – (#6) Alaska Anchorage vs. (#7) BYU-Hawaii, 5:00 pm
Game 6 – (#4) Dixie State vs. (#8) Seattle Pacific, 7:30 pm

MONDAY, MARCH 14 (Regional Championship)
Game 7 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 7:00 pm

RESULTS -- Friday, March 11 (First Round)
Game 1 – (#6) Alaska Anchorage 76, (#3) Humboldt State 70
Game 2 – (#7) BYU-Hawaii 83, (#2) Cal State Dominguez Hills 76
Game 3 – (#4) Dixie State 92, (#5) Chaminade 81
Game 4 – (#8) Seattle Pacific 76, (#1) Central Washington 63

Fresh off Friday's 76-63 upset of fifth-ranked Central Washington, the No. 8-seeded Seattle Pacific Falcons (20-9) meet No. 4 Dixie State (21-6) on Saturday, Mar. 12 in the West Region semifinals of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time at Nicholson Pavilion in Ellensburg, Wash., the homecourt of top seed CWU. Saturday's clash is a rematch of a Nov. 20, 2010 meeting in Seattle that was won 68-61 by Dixie. The Red Storm defeated Chaminade 92-81 in their NCAA first-round game. The SPU-Dixie winner meets the victor of Saturday's 5 p.m. semifinal matchup between No. 6 Alaska Anchorage and No. 7 BYU-Hawaii. The West Region championship game is slated for Monday, Mar. 14 at 7 p.m. in Ellensburg. The West Region winner advances to the Elite Eight, set for Mar. 23, 24 and 26 in Springfield, Mass.

First-Round Recap
Jeff Downs scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half Friday as No. 8 seed Seattle Pacific surged ahead early en route to a 76-63 upset of fifth-ranked and top-seeded Central Washington in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Nicholson Pavilion. Downs was limited to fewer than 12 points in each of the two previous meetings, both regular-season wins by GNAC champion CWU. On Friday the senior wing combined for 42 points with his brother, freshman point guard David Downs. David's career-high 22 points came on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range. Jeff Downs fueled a 13-point run midway through the first half that put SPU ahead 27-13. Ryan Sweet capped the run on a dunk with 6:16 on the clock. During the SPU surge, the Wildcats went scoreless for over six minutes, missing six straight shots and committing three turnovers in that span. Jody Johnson ended the drought on a 12-foot jump shot with 5:43 left in the first half, giving CWU its first points since the 11:58 mark. Jeff Downs scored the final five points of the opening period to provide a 40-25 halftime advantage, and the Falcons never led by less than five points in the second half. Ryan Sweet scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help SPU win the board battle 38-31. Modou Niang tied his career high with 11 points. Jamar Berry scored 16 points to pace the Wildcats, who were limited to 39-percent shooting (24 of 61) and made just 7 of 31 treys.

SPU in the NCAAs
The Falcons are participating in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh straight season and the 15th time in the last 18 seasons ... SPU won a first-round game for the 17th time in 22 all-time playoff berths ... The Falcons have a 25-21 all-time record in the NCAA playoffs ... SPU advanced to the national semifinals in 2000 and again in 2006 ... Last year, the third-seeded Falcons fell 76-72 in the opening round to No. 6 BYU-Hawaii.

Scouting Dixie State (21-6)
> The Red Storm are two-time Pacific West Conference co-champions who are making their second NCAA Tournament appearance. Last year they lost 71-62 to eventual national champion Cal Poly Pomona in the opening round.

> Located in St. George, Utah, Dixie State is in its fifth year as an NCAA Division II member.

> The Red Storm boast the nation's third-best field goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to 37.9 percent shooting from the field and just 30.6 percent on 3-pointers.

> Tom Whitehead, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, leads a balanced DSC attack with 14.1 points per game. He is the lone double-figure scorer.

> The Falcons own a 2-1 edge in the all-time series. They won the first two meetings, defeating Dixie 82-76 on Dec. 20, 2006 in Utah and 71-67 on Dec. 30, 2006 in Seattle. The Red Storm were 68-61 victors on Nov. 20, 2010 in Seattle.

> Second-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has an 0-1 record against the Red Storm.

First Meeting vs. Dixie Recap
Tom Whitehead capped his tournament MVP performance with 17 points on Nov. 20, helping Dixie State defeat 10th-ranked Seattle Pacific 68-61 in the final game of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic at Brougham Pavilion. SPU lost despite the 17 points of Chris Banchero, who was named to the all-tournament squad along with teammate Andy Poling. Ryan Sweet's dunk with 2:42 left in the game ignited a 9-0 Falcons' spree. Jeff Downs capped the run with a 3-pointer at 0:50 that cut the deficit to 64-61. Dixie secured the win by netting the final four points of the game, all of them by Maurice Cole. He hit a critical runner in the lane, was fouled and sank the subsequent free throw to extend the margin to 67-61 with 18 seconds remaining. Cole also hit one of two free throws with 10.8 seconds left. Griffon Jones scored 15 points for the Red Storm and Solomon Jensen added 10. Dixie shot 49 percent for the game (28 of 57), including a stellar 57 percent (12 of 21) in the second half. The Falcons were limited to 37-percent shooting (21 of 57), one night after hitting 61 percent of their field goals in a 102-62 win over Cal State East Bay. Downs scored 13 points for SPU, which also got 12 from Sweet.

SPU vs. the Field
The Falcons have a 3-6 record against teams from this year's 64-team NCAA Tournament field, having played five of them: Central Washington (1-2), Alaska Anchorage (1-2), Dixie State (0-1), Fort Lewis (0-1) and Chaminade (1-0).

Notable
The 42 points in Friday's NCAA opener were the highest combined total for brothers David (22) and Jeff (20) Downs this season. Their previous high was 34 points on two occasions ... SPU stopped a five-game losing skid against CWU in Ellensburg ... Sophomore Andy Poling, a 6-foot-11 transfer from Gonzaga, leads SPU with eight double-doubles. He erupted for 35 points at Northwest Nazarene (Feb. 12) ... The Falcons have had four 30-point scoring games by individuals and surrendered just one 30-point game to an opponent (Michael Duty, WWU) ... After having two returning starters (Chris Banchero & Jake Anderson) suffer season-ending knee injuries, the Falcons have implemented the same starting lineup for the last 18 games ... SPU leads all GNAC teams in rebound margin (+7.4) and has a 19-5 record when outrebounding opponents ... The Falcons also lead the GNAC in assists (16.8 apg) and assist-turnover ratio (1.33).

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 1,008-678 (59.8%) since the program was founded in 1943-44.

Downs Up the Charts
Senior Jeff Downs scored 18 points on Feb. 24 at Simon Fraser to become SPU's 31st 1,000-point scorer. His 1,059 career points rank No. 19 among all-time Falcons. A second-team All-GNAC performer, Downs is SPU's top scorer among active players at 16.0 points per game. He has a league-leading 92 treys, giving him 217 for his career to rank No. 3 among all-time Falcon 3-pointer shooters.

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 92 treys. Younger brother, David, is a freshman point guard. Jeff has started all 29 games this season and David assumed the starting point guard role for the last 18 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.

Sweet Senior
Stat sheet stuffer Ryan Sweet was honored as an All-GNAC honorable mention pick. The 6-foot-6 senior leads SPU in field goal percentage (56.9%) and steals (25). Included in his stellar shooting is 35-percent accuracy (18 of 51) from 3-point range. Sweet ranks second on the team in rebounds (7.2 rpg) and assists (72) and is third in blocked shots (10). A second-year Falcon who transferred from Whatcom (Wash.) Community College, Sweet has 12 career double-doubles, five of them coming this season.

Quoting Coach Ryan  Looney
“I'm extremely proud of our guys. We fought through a ton of adversity this year with injuries and now we're in the final 32. Everybody out there counted our guys out, except themselves.”

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 137-70 (.662) career record, including a 42-15 mark (73.7%) 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.

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.

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).