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THURSDAY, JANUARY 17 –
(#6) Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene, 6:00 p.m. PST (7 MST)
Johnson Sports Center • Nampa, Idaho
 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 19 –
(#6) SPU at Central Washington, 7:00 p.m. PST
Nicholson Pavilion • Ellensburg, Wash.
 
• Webcast & LiveStats link for both games:  http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/spu.portal#
 
The Seattle Pacific men's basketball team puts its newly minted No. 6 national ranking on the line in a pair of road games this week. The third-place Falcons (11-2, 4-1) play two fourth-place teams with identical 9-5 overall records and 3-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference marks. SPU visits Nampa, Idaho on Thursday, Jan. 17 for a 6 p.m. Pacific Time (7 p.m. MST) encounter with Northwest Nazarene at the Johnson Sports Center. The Falcons won 12 of their last 14 meetings versus NNU. On Saturday, Jan. 19 SPU travels to Ellensburg for a 7 p.m. clash against Central Washington. The Wildcats won the last matchup, a 70-69 decision in the first round of the 2012 GNAC Tournament, to snap a three-game skid against SPU.
 
Dynamic Defense
The SPU defense ranks No. 9 nationally, surrendering only 59.5 points per game. That is lower than the school-record figure of 60.7 points opponents were limited to last year. The Falcons have a 6-0 record when keeping opponents under 60 points and just one opponent (Alaska Anchorage) has compiled more than 69 points. Falcons foes are shooting just 40.5 percent and none of them has reached the 50-percent plateau.
 


Prolific Passers
The Falcons rank No. 6 nationally with 19.6 assists per game. That figure is phenomenal considering they rank 99th in scoring at 74.6 points per game. SPU registered assists on 24 of 26 baskets in an 85-79 victory at Alaska Anchorage (Dec. 1). Junior point guard David Downs leads the GNAC with 5.3 assists per game and sophomore Riley Stockton is fifth at 4.3. For the season, SPU's 74-percent rate of assisted field goals (255 of 346) is significantly higher than last year's final figure of 64 percent.
 
Recent Recap
SPU capped a five-game homestand on Saturday (Jan. 12) with an 81-56 win over Montana State Billings. Jobi Wall's 13-point, 12-rebound double-double sparked the Falcons, whose lone loss during the homestand was a 66-56 setback on Jan. 3 against currently No. 3-ranked Western Washington.
 
Court Report
Sophomore starting guard Riley Stockton is the nephew of NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton who compiled a record 15,806 assists during his 19-year career with the Utah Jazz ... The Falcons have out-boarded every opponent and rank No. 4 nationally, topping opponents by an average of 12.2 rebounds per game.
 
GNAC Race
The Falcons are seeking to win their fifth GNAC championship since the league was formed in 2001-02. They captured the 2010 and 2006 conference titles outright. SPU shared the 2007 GNAC crown with Seattle University and in 2002 finished in a three-way tie with Humboldt State and Western Washington.
 
Next Week
The SPU men return home to play Western Oregon on Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. before hosting Saint Martin's on Jan. 26 at 4 p.m. in the annual Homecoming game.
 
Scouting Northwest Nazarene (9-5, 3-3 GNAC)
> The Crusaders, from Nampa, Idaho, are led by the 15.8-point scoring average of UCLA transfer Kenny Jones, who ranks No. 5 among GNAC players.
 
> NNU's Jonathan Hawkins leads the conference in free throw accuracy at 92.6 percent, a figure that ranks No. 6 nationally.
 
> SPU leads the series 48-22, including wins in 12 of the last 14 meetings. The Falcons won last year's first encounter 71-66 on Jan. 14 in Nampa and then claimed the Seattle return game 73-60 on Feb. 9.
 
> Dave Daniels is in his second year as head coach of the Crusaders after spending the previous six seasons at Colorado Christian where he coached current SPU player Jobi Wall.
 
> Fourth-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has a 5-1 record against NNU.
 
Scouting Central Washington (9-5, 3-3  GNAC)
> Something's gotta give Saturday when the league's most prolific offense that ranks fourth nationally (Central at 90.4 points per game) meets its stingiest defense that ranks No. 9 in the nation (SPU at 59.5 ppg allowed). That's a 30.9-point differential between what CWU scores and the Falcons surrender.
 
 > The Wildcats boast five double-figure scorers, led by the league-leading 23.1-point average of Mark McLaughlin.
 
> Central leads the all-time series 71-45 despite losing three the last four meetings. CWU was a 70-69 victor in the most recent matchup, on Feb. 29 in the first round the 2012 GNAC Tournament in Lacey, Wash. That stopped the Falcons three-game winning streak, their longest in the series since 2003.
 
> The Falcons swept the regular-season series in 2012 for the first time since 2004. They won 76-49 in Ellensburg on Jan. 12 and were 72-64 victors on Feb. 11 in Seattle.
 
> In his fourth season at SPU, Ryan Looney has a 4-4 record against the Wildcats.
 
2012 SPU Preview
Fourth-year coach Ryan Looney returns four starters from last season's 23-8 squad that made its eighth straight playoff appearance. Heading the list of returnees are 2012 All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference selections David Downs and Andy Poling. Downs (6-2, Jr., PG) is the top returning scorer in the GNAC who led SPU with 15.6 points per game. Poling (6-11, Sr., C) transferred from Gonzaga prior to the 2010-11 season. He is the league's leading returning rebounder with 7.4 rebounds per game in 2012 while scoring at a 15.4-point clip. Those two are joined on this year's preseason All-GNAC team by Jobi Wall and newcomer Patrick Simon. Wall (6-6, Sr., F) averaged 11.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last season. Simon (6-8, Jr., F) is a transfer from Washington State who averaged 2.6 points in limited duty last year. Four other lettermen return, led by starter Riley Stockton (6-4, So., G) and backup center Cory Hutsen (6-8, Jr., C). Stockton is the nephew of Hall of Famer John Stockton, the NBA's all-time assist leader. An impressive cast of newcomers includes athletic Montana State transfer Shawn Reid (6-4, Jr., F) and freshman Brendan Carroll (6-4, Fr., G) from Brisbane, Australia.
 
Falcons Fast Fact
As a prep pitcher at Faith Christian High School, SPU senior forward Jobi Wall tossed a perfect game and hit for the cycle in a five-inning contest during the 2008 Colorado state Class 3A playoffs.
 
Terrific Transfers
The Falcons roster is bolstered by the addition of NCAA Division I transfers Shawn Reid and Patrick Simon. A 6-foot-4 junior forward, Reid was the second-leading scorer at Montana State, averaging 10.6 points and 3.3 rebounds in 2012. He started 10 games, including a Feb. 15 contest against Weber State during which he made five 3-pointers en route to a career-high 31-point performance. Reid participated in the last four game after being sidelined with an injured hand. Simon is a 6-8 junior forward who played two seasons at Washington State. He averaged 2.6 points in limited duty for the Cougars, getting 15 of his 22 baskets from 3-point range.
 
Looney's Ledger
Ryan Looney is in his fourth season after directing Seattle Pacific to postseason berths in each of his first three campaigns. He has a 76-26 record at SPU. The Falcons registered a 23-8 record last year and finished third in the GNAC with a 13-5 mark. They won two playoff games and advanced to the West Region final before losing 56-50 to eventual national champion Western Washington. In 2011, SPU was 20-10 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 conference championship in his inaugural season. He was voted the 2010 GNAC Coach of the Year. 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, 37, has a 171-81 career record, including a 95-55 ledger in five seasons with Eastern Oregon. He directed EOU to back-to-back NAIA Tournament appearances in 2008 and 2009.
 
Eight Great Years
Seattle Pacific boasts the longest current playoff streak among NCAA Division II men's basketball programs, a stretch of eight years that dates to 2005. The Falcons posted a 169-67 record over those previous eight seasons, more victories than any GNAC 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, 20-10 in 2011 and 23-8 last season. The 169 combined wins are the second-highest eight-year total in school history, topped only by a 174-win run from 1995 to 2002. The Falcons advanced to the national semifinals in 2006.
 
GNAC Coaches Poll
Seattle Pacific, which returns four starters from a team that advanced to the 2012 West Region final, was selected as the favorite to capture the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball championship by the preseason coaches' poll. In addition, SPU placed a league-high four players on the 15-man preseason all-conference team. The Falcons collected eight of 10 first-place votes en route to a 97-point total. Defending national champion Western Washington was projected to place second, receiving the remaining two first-place votes for 90 points. Among the Falcons four individuals honored were unanimous preseason picks David Downs and Andy Poling, who were all-conference team members in 2012. They are joined on this year's early GNAC squad by Jobi Wall and newcomer Patrick Simon. SPU claimed four league championships in the past 11 seasons.