• Complete Release (pdf)
      • VIDEO: Jonnie Washburn

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23 --
(#24) Seattle Pacific at (#14) Western Washington, 7:00 p.m. PST
Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
•Webcast: wwu.PennAtlantic.com  
•LiveStats: www.WWUvikings.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25 --
(#24) Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser, 7:00 p.m. PST
West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
•Webcast: http://athletics.sfu.ca/clantv.html  
•LiveStats: http://cgi.sfu.ca/~athlwww/livestats/bball/xlive.htm

The homestretch happens on the road for the 24th-ranked Seattle Pacific men's basketball team (20-5, 12-4 GNAC), which concludes the regular season this week with a pair of away games. The Falcons visit league-leading and 14th-ranked Western Washington (23-4, 14-2) on Thursday, Feb. 23. Tip-off is 7 p.m. Pacific Time at Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham, where SPU won in each of its last six visits. The Vikings won this year's first meeting 79-71 on Dec. 3 in Seattle. On Saturday, Feb. 25, SPU travels to Burnaby, B.C. for a 7 p.m. game against Simon Fraser. The Falcons won all seven previous meetings against the Clan, a second-year Great Northwest Athletic Conference member.

Region Rankings
The SPU men were listed third in last week's (Feb. 15) NCAA Division II West Region rankings. The conference champions from the CCAA, Pac-West and GNAC earn automatic postseason berths with the next five highest seeds filling out the West Region playoff field.  Here are the Feb. 15 West Region Rankings: 1-Western Washington, 2-Alaska Anchorage, 3-Seattle Pacific, 4-Dixie State, 5-Western Oregon, 6-Humboldt State, 7-Cal Poly Pomona, 8-Chico State, 9-Montana State Billings, 10-BYU-Hawaii.



20 for 20
The Falcons reached the 20-win plateau for the sixth time in the last eight years as Saturday's 78-70 home win over Montana State Billings improved their record to 20-5. SPU has registered 20 victories in a season for the 20th time in school history.

Dynamic Defense
SPU's defense ranks No. 7 nationally by surrendering 59.0 points per game, nearly three points fewer than the school-record figure of 61.8 points opponents were limited to in 1962-63. Academy of Art lost 63-33 to SPU (Nov. 26), the lowest opponent point total allowed since 1951. The Falcons have a 14-0 record when keeping foes under 60 points. SPU is holding opponents to 38.5-percent shooting (No. 7 nationally). BYU-Hawaii (Dec. 10) and Alaska Anchorage (Feb. 2) are the only teams to shoot 50 percent against SPU. The Falcons held five foes under 50 points. Along with scoring and field goal defense, SPU also leads the league in rebound margin at + 9.7 (5th NCAA).

GNAC Tournament
For the second season, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference is sponsoring a postseason tournament with the winner receiving the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II playoffs. The top six finishers from the regular-season standings compete in the conference tournament with the top two receiving first-round byes. All games will be played at Marcus Pavilion on the Saint Martin's campus. The quarterfinal games are Feb. 29 with the semifinals set for Mar. 2 and the championship game on Mar. 3.

Notable
SPU finished with an 11-1 home record ... The Falcons outrebounded each of their last 15 opponents by a combined 609-387margin ... SPU has an 18-2 record in games it was ahead at halftime and is 19-0 when leading with five minutes left to play.

Famous Uncle
SPU freshman Riley Stockton is the nephew of NBA Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton, who distributed a record 15,806 assists during his 19-season career with the Utah Jazz (1984-2003). Riley Stockton prepped at Ferris High School in Spokane, Wash.

Big Men on Campus
In their second season at SPU, Division I transfers Andy Poling (6-11, Gonzaga) and Modou Niang (6-10, Utah State) are the tallest tandem in SPU history. Poling is a Sporting News honorable mention preseason All-American.

Scouting Western Washington (23-4, 14-2 GNAC)
> Something's gotta give Thursday when the GNAC's second-best scoring squad (WWU, 82.0 ppg) clashes against the team with the best scoring defense (SPU, 59.0).

> The 14th-ranked Vikings had a 10-game winning streak snapped with Saturday's 89-82 road loss to Central Washington. WWU is led by the 16.9-point average of Rory Blanche and 14.9 points per game from John Allen.

> The Falcons own a 76-46 series advantage, including wins in 12 of the last 14 meetings with WWU. The Vikings halted a five-game series losing skid with a 79-71 win on Dec. 3 in Seattle.

> SPU was victorious in each of its last six visits to Bellingham, last losing in 2006.

> Western is coached for the 27th 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 third season at SPU, Ryan Looney has a 4-1 record against the Vikings.

Scouting Simon Fraser (8-16, 3-13 GNAC)
> Located in Burnaby, B.C., Simon Fraser is the first college from outside the United States to become a member of the NCAA and the GNAC, joining last year.

> SFU's Justin Brown is the league's third leading scorer at 17.5 points per game.

> SPU won all seven previous meetings vs. Simon Fraser, five of them at home.

> The Falcons won this year's first encounter, a 68-57 decision on Dec. 1 in Seattle.

> In his third season at SPU, Ryan Looney has a 3-0 record against the Clan.

Terrific Transfer
The Falcons frontline is bolstered by the addition of transfer Jobi Wall, a 6-foot-6 junior who led all scorers with 24 points in the win at Arizona (Oct. 27). He averaged 16.6 points and 7.7 rebounds and shot 44 percent on 3-pointers in 2010 at Colorado Christian. Wall used an injury red-shirt season last year at CCU. SPU got a first-hand look at Wall on Dec. 30, 2009 at Brougham Pavilion. He amassed 28 points and 13 rebounds, hitting 5 of 9 treys in a 73-69 Colorado Christian win over the Falcons. As a prep pitcher at Faith Christian High School, Wall tossed a perfect game and hit for the cycle in a five-inning contest during the 2008 Colorado state Class 3A playoffs.

2012 Preview
Third-year coach Ryan Looney returns three starters from last year's 20-10 squad that made its seventh straight playoff appearance. Heading the list of returnees is 6-foot-11 junior post Andy Poling, a Sporting News honorable mention All-American. The Gonzaga transfer averaged 14.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in his first year as a Falcon. Also returning is 2010 GNAC Freshman of the Year David Downs. He assumed the starting point guard duties midway through the season, after an injury sidelined All-American Chris Banchero, and averaged 6.9 points and 4.3 assists per game. The impressive list of newcomers features Jobi Wall, a 6-6 transfer who averaged 16.6 points and 7.7 rebounds in 2010 at Colorado Christian. Freshman Riley Stockton is the nephew of Hall of Famer John Stockton, the NBA's all-time assist leader. The SPU men were ranked No. 22 nationally among NCAA Division II teams in preseason coaches poll.

Exhibition Recap
Jobi Wall scored 24 points, including the go-ahead basket on a layup with 2:20 left in SPU's 69-68 upset at No. 16 Arizona on Oct. 27 in Tucson. The Falcons led 37-29 at halftime. The Wildcats staged an 18-6 run and led by two before SPU scored six straight to take the lead for good. A potential game-winning trey by UA's Nick Johnson missed at the buzzer. On Nov. 4, C.J. Wilcox led four double-figure scorers for Washington with 19 points in a 77-60 win over SPU. Andy Poling's 12 points and seven rebounds paced the Falcons, who made just 10 of 23 free throws.

Tropical Tour
The Seattle Pacific men got an early jump on the basketball season with a six-day trip to Nassau, Bahamas from Sept. 10-16. The Falcons swept three professional teams from the New Providence Basketball Association (NPBA). They won 96-63 over the two-time defending league champion Commonwealth Giants, defeated the league runner-up Real Deal Shockers 75-52 and beat the Mailboat Cybots 93-51. Andy Poling averaged a double-double on the trip, with 19.3 points and 11.3 rebounds.

Looney's Ledger
Ryan Looney is in his third season after directing Seattle Pacific to postseason berths in each of his first two campaigns. His SPU record is 62-21 (.747). The Falcons were 20-10 last year and upset fifth-ranked Central Washington in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Looney led SPU to a 22-6 record in 2010 and became the first coach to direct the Falcons to a league title in his inaugural season. He was voted the 2010 GNAC Coach of the Year. Looney, who led 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, 36, has a 157-76 (.674) career record, including a 95-55 record in five seasons with Eastern Oregon. He directed EOU to back-to-back NAIA Tournament appearances in 2008 and 2009.

Giant Killers
Seattle Pacific is an NCAA Division II competitor that won three of its last four games against Division I opponents, all of them road exhibitions. The Falcons, who were 69-68 victors at Arizona on Oct. 27, defeated Eastern Washington (87-82) and Nevada (84-81) on the road in last season's exhibition contests. SPU lost 77-60 at Washington on Nov. 4. This year's two encounters increase to 18 the number of Division I foes the Falcons have faced during the last eight seasons.

Seven-Year Surge
The Falcons posted a 146-59 record over the previous seven seasons, 12 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, 22-6 in 2010 and 20-10 last season. The 146 combined wins are the second-highest seven-year total in school history, topped only by a 154-win run from 1996 to 2002. The Falcons competed in seven straight NCAA Division II Tournaments (2005-10), advancing to the national semifinals in 2006.

2011 Review
Seattle Pacific compiled a 20-10 record in 2011 en route to its seventh straight NCAA Division II Tournament berth. The Falcons placed third in the GNAC (12-6) and were the league's last team standing in the 2011 playoffs after upsetting fifth-ranked Central Washington 76-63 during a first-round game in Ellensburg. The Falcons will look to replace two starters, leading 3-point shooter Jeff Downs (95 treys) and top rebounder Ryan Sweet (7.2 rpg). Also departed is Chris Banchero, the 2010 West Region Player of the Year who missed the final 19 games last season due to a knee injury. He amassed 22.4 points and 5.6 assists per game before being sidelined.