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NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
West Regional / Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
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FRIDAY, MARCH 11 (First Round)
Game 1 – (#6) Alaska Anchorage vs. (#3) Humboldt State, noon
Game 2 – (#7) BYU-Hawaii vs. (#2) Cal State Dominguez Hills, 2:30 pm
Game 3 – (#5) Chaminade vs. (#4) Dixie State, 5:30 pm
Game 4 – (#8) Seattle Pacific vs. (#1) Central Washington, 8:00 pm

SATURDAY, MARCH 12 (Regional Semifinals)
Game 5 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 5:00 pm
Game 6 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7:30 pm

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

The Seattle Pacific Falcons (19-9) are the No. 8 seed in the West Region and will compete in their seventh straight NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament beginning on Friday, Mar. 11 with a rematch against top seeded and nationally fifth-ranked Central Washington (26-3). Tip-off is 8 p.m. at Nicholson Pavilion in Ellensburg, Wash. The 64-team field was announced Sunday night and for the third straight season SPU will remain in the state of Washington for West Region playoffs that will be contested this year at CWU's Nicholson Pavilion. The last two West Regionals were played in Bellingham.

West Region Pairings
The Falcons' first-round playoff game features a clash of the last two Great Northwest Athletic Conference champions. SPU was victorious in 2010 and Central Washington won both the regular-season crown and the inaugural GNAC Tournament title this season. The SPU-CWU winner plays against the victor of Friday's 5:30 p.m. game between No. 4 seed Dixie State (20-6) and No. 5 Chaminade (20-8). That West Region semifinal is slated for Saturday, Mar. 12 at 7:30 p.m. The other half of the bracket has No. 3 Humboldt State (26-3) meeting No. 6 Alaska Anchorage (23-9) at noon and No. 2 seed Cal State Dominguez Hills (23-6) playing No. 7 BYU-Hawaii (17-8) at 2:30 p.m. The regional championship game is slated for Monday, Mar. 14 at 7 p.m. All three opening rounds will be played in Ellensburg. The West Region winner advances to the Elite Eight, set for Mar. 23, 24 and 26 in Springfield, Mass.

Third Time's a Charm?
Perennial playoff participant Seattle Pacific starts this season's postseason journey against a familiar foe. The Falcons face their third meeting of the season with West Region host Central Washington. The top-seeded Wildcats won both regular-season encounters, defeating SPU 72-68 on Jan. 13 in Seattle and 63-53 on Feb. 9 in Ellensburg. The Falcons won just twice in their last 11 meetings with Central and lost in their last five visits to Ellensburg, where they have not won since 2006.



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

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 at least one game in 16 of its 21 previous NCAA playoff appearances ... The Falcons have a 24-21 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.

Ticket Talk
Tickets for the West Regional will be available online through Wildcat Tickets at: www.cwu.edu/~wildcattickets beginning at noon PST on Tuesday, Mar. 8. Single-session prices are $14 for reserved, $12 for general admission, and $6 for students. All-session tournament tickets in the reserved sections will be also available for $35.

Scouting Central Washington (26-3)
> The fifth-ranked Wildcats won 17 of their last 18 games.

> CWU is second in the GNAC with 79.9 points per game. Three players average double digits, led by the 17.5 ppg of Chaminade transfer Jamar Berry.

> The Wildcats lead the all-time series 70-42 and won nine of the last 11 meetings against SPU, including a 72-68 victory on Jan. 13 in Seattle and a 63-53 decision on Feb. 9 in Ellensburg. The Falcons lost in their last five visits to Ellensburg, where they have not won since 2006 (99-91 on Jan. 19).

> In his second season at SPU, Ryan Looney has a 1-3 record against the Wildcats.

Block Party
Wednesday's game features five of the top-six shot blockers in the GNAC. CWU's Chris Sprinker (1.96 blocks per game), Coby Gibler (1.57) and Roby Clyde (1.17) rank one-two-three, while SPU's Modou Niang (1.0) and Andy Poling (1.0) are tied for fifth. Western Washington's Dan Young ranks fourth with 1.04 blocks per game.

Notable
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 17 games ... SPU leads all GNAC teams in rebound margin (+7.4) and has an 18-5 record when outrebounding opponents ... The Falcons also lead the GNAC in assists (16.9 apg) and assist-turnover ratio (1.38).

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 1,007-678 (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 1,039 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 15.9 points per game. He has a league-leading 90 treys, giving him 215 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 15.9 points while leading the conference with 90 treys. Younger brother, David, is a freshman point guard. Jeff has started all 28 games this season and David assumed the starting point guard role for the last 17 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.

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 136-70 (.660) career record, including a 41-15 mark (73.2%) 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.

Quoting Coach Ryan Looney
“We're excited to be in the Division II national tournament again. It's seven consecutive years for the program now and two-for-two in my time here as the head coach. We talked a lot with our guys about not having any sense of disappointment regardless of the seeding. We faced a lot of adversity this year and for our guys to fight through that and still be where we are at right now is pretty satisfying.”

On Central Washington: “They are really good and they present some problems for us. Hopefully we've learned from the first two times that we played them this year. When you get this far in the year, regardless of who you are playing, they are going to be really good. For us to get out of the regional, at some point we're probably going to need to beat Central so why not try it right away? The regional is going to be on Central's floor. To make it through there and advance to the Elite Eight you are probably going to have to beat them at some time. For us, that's just on opening night.”

On injuries: “Obviously, we anticipated having Chris Banchero and Jake Anderson, who were starters on that team last year when we played in the tournament. Both sustained season-ending ACL injuries. I'm excited for the young guys on our team. They've been asked to do more than we originally planned for them to do during this year and they've stepped up to the challenge. This will be a huge experience for them early in their careers and hopefully it will help head them individually, and our program, in the right direction.”

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 (57.1%) and steals (24). Included in his stellar shooting is 35-percent accuracy (17 of 49) from 3-point range. Sweet ranks second on the team in rebounds (7.1 rpg) and assists (71) and is third in blocked shots (9). A second-year Falcon who transferred from Whatcom (Wash.) Community College, Sweet has 11 career double-doubles, four of them coming this season.

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).

GNAC Tournament Recap
After defeating Western Oregon 69-65 at home on Feb. 28 in the first round of the inaugural GNAC Tournament, Seattle Pacific was eliminated in the semifinals on Mar. 2 in Anchorage. Brandon Walker hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 24.6 seconds remaining, keying a game-closing nine-point run for the Seawolves in a 72-67 victory over SPU. After Ryan Sweet converted four consecutive free throws to provide a 67-63 SPU lead, the Seawolves scored nine unanswered points over the final 1:40. Andy Poling tallied 20 points to lead the SPU men, who also got 16 from Sweet.

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.