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     • First-round recap -- SPU 70, Dixie State 68

2012 NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
West Regional • Carver Gymnasium • Bellingham, Wash.
 
Webcasts: www.PennAtlantic.com
LiveStats: www.wwuvikings.com

Purchase Tickets:
call (360) 650-2583  or buy online at:  http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?organ_val=22357
 
Friday, March 9 (First Round)
Game 1 – (#3) Seattle Pacific 70, (#6) Dixie State 68
Game 2 – (#2) Alaska Anchorage 80, (#7) Montana State Billings 68
Game 3 – (#5) Chico State 75, (#4) Humboldt State 68
Game 4 – (#1) Western Washington 79, (#8) Grand Canyon 73
 
Saturday, March 10 (Regional Semifinals)
Game 5 – (#3) Seattle Pacific vs. (#2) Alaska Anchorage, 5:00 pm
Game 6 – (#5) Chico State vs. (#1) Western Washington, 7:00 pm
 
Monday, March 12 (Regional Championship)
Game 7 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 7:00 pm
 
A familiar foe awaits Seattle Pacific in the second round of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament. The third-seeded Falcons (22-7) have a West Region semifinal matchup against Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Alaska Anchorage (23-6) on Saturday, Mar. 10. Tip-off is 5 p.m. at Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham, Wash. where host and top seed Western Washington (26-5) meets No. 5 Chico State (25-7) in the other semifinal. The two semifinal winners play on Monday, Mar. 12 at 7 p.m. in the West Region championship game. The West region winner advances to the Elite Eight, set for Mar. 21, 22 and 24 in Highland Heights, Ky
 
Playoff Preview
Saturday's neutral-site matchup will be the season series rubber match between SPU and 16th-ranked Alaska Anchorage, the region's No. 2 seed. They split their two previous meetings with each winning at home. The Falcons have a 5-2 NCAA Tournament record against league rivals since the GNAC began in 2001-02. They lost their only playoff meeting versus the Seawolves, a 56-55 setback in 2008 at Anchorage.
 
First-Round Recap
Senior Jake Anderson tallied 15 of his career-high 24 points inside the final 12 minutes Friday, lifting Seattle Pacific to a 70-68 victory over No. 6 seed Dixie State in the opening round. The Red Storm erased an 18-point, first-half deficit and led 40-39 at halftime. Anderson scored seven straight points, capped by a 3-pointer with 8:15 left to play that gave SPU its initial second-half lead at 56-52. That started a streak during which Anderson accounted for 15 of 18 Falcons points during a span of 10:22, the last coming on a 3-pointer with 1:20 remaining that extended their lead to 67-59. Dixie cut the lead to 67-65 before free throws from SPU's David Downs and Andy Poling sealed the win. Alaska Anchorage advanced to the West Region semifinals by virtue of an 80-68 win over Montana State Billings. Taylor Rohde tied his career-high with 32 points for UAA.
 
SPU Playoff History
The Falcons are participating in the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd time and their eight consecutive appearances form the nation's longest current streak among Division II teams. SPU, which won its NCAA opener for the fifth time in the last seven seasons, has not won a second-round game since its Final Four run in 2006.
 
Ticket Talk
Tickets for the West Regional can be purchased by calling 360-650-2583. Reserved tickets are $12, general admission $8, and students, youth and seniors with ID are $5. Tickets are good all day for multiple-game dates. Tickets are also available online through the WWU Ticket Office at: http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?organ_val=22357
 
Dynamic Defense
SPU's defense ranks No. 10 nationally by surrendering 60.7 points per game, over one point 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 yielded since 1951. The Falcons have a 14-0 record when keeping foes under 60 points. SPU is holding opponents to 38.9-percent shooting (No. 8 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 plus-10.2 (No. 5 NCAA).
 
Scouting Alaska Anchorage (23-6)
> You might expect a defensive battle as SPU boasts the GNAC's stingiest defense, yielding just 60.7 points per game while the Seawolves limit foes to 65.5 points to rank second. On the other side of the ledger, UAA is fourth in the league in scoring (78.2 ppg) and the Falcons are seventh (70.7 ppg.)
 
> The Seawolves lead the all-time series 34-26. SPU won this year's first meeting 84-51 on Jan. 7 in Seattle, its second-largest winning margin ever over UAA.
 
> The SPU men lost the rematch 78-69 on Feb. 2, their sixth straight loss in Anchorage.
 
> In his third season at SPU, Ryan Looney has a 3-4 record against the Seawolves.
 
Amazing Anderson
Senior Jake Anderson is the only current SPU player to play in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments. He was fantastic on Friday. Anderson tallied 15 of his career-high 24 points inside the final 12 minutes to fuel the Falcons win over Dixie State. The product of nearby Burlington-Edison High School more than doubled his previous season-high point total of 11. He hit 7 of 9 shots from the field, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Anderson eclipsed the career-high of 17 points he established in 2011. Anderson accounted for 15 of 18 Falcons points during a span of 10:22 late in the second half. Anderson's only double-figure scoring games came in each of the last three outings. He played as a reserve in 10 of the last 11 games after starting 19 games.
 
Close to Home
For the fourth straight season SPU remains in the state of Washington for the playoffs. The venue for this year's tournament is WWU's Carver Gym in Bellingham, the site of the 2009 and 2010 West Regionals. The 2011 regional was contested in Ellensburg last year.
 
Quoting Coach Ryan Looney
“It's great that we don't have to travel that far. We'll be able to spend at least a little bit more time at home probably than some of the teams. To be able to play in a venue that we're familiar with helps”
 
On eight straight playoff berths: “We take pride in that streak. When we recruit players we talk about, regardless of level or where they decide to go to play, one of the things that helps create a quality experience is winning. Obviously our program has been able to do that now with eight consecutive trips to the tournament.”
 
SPU in the NCAAs
The Falcons are participating in the NCAA Tournament for the school-record eighth straight season, the longest current streak among Division II teams. Seattle Pacific will participate in the postseason for the 16th time in the last 19 seasons. The Falcons won at least one game in 18 of its 23 NCAA playoff appearances. SPU compiled a 26-22 all-time record in the NCAA playoffs and advanced to the national semifinals in 2000 and again in 2006. Last year, the eighth-seeded Falcons upset No. 1 seed and fifth-ranked Central Washington 76-63 in the opening round before losing 75-73 to Dixie State in the West Region semifinal in Ellensburg, Wash.
 
SPU vs. the Field
SPU has a 4-5 record against teams from this year's 64-team NCAA Tournament field, having played five of them: Alaska Anchorage (1-1), Dixie State (2-0), Grand Canyon (0-1), Montana State Billings (1-1) and Western Washington (0-2).
 
Remarkable Rebounders
SPU out-rebounded each of its last 19 opponents by a combined 765-490 margin, including a 35-board advantage at Central Washington (54-19) on Jan. 12. The last team to out-rebound the Falcons was BYU-Hawaii (30-23) on Dec. 10. SPU ranks No. 5 nationally in rebound differential at plus-10.2 boards per game.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Looney's Ledger
Ryan Looney is in his third season and has directed Seattle Pacific to postseason berths in each of three campaigns. His SPU record is 65-22 (.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 160-77 (.675) 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.
 
20 for 20
The Falcons reached the 20-win plateau for the sixth time in the last eight years. SPU registered 20 victories in a season for the 20th time in school history.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.