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THURSDAY, JANUARY 24 --
Western Oregon at (#5) Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 26 --
Saint Martin's at (#5) Seattle Pacific, 4:00 p.m. PST (Homecoming)
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
• Webcast for both games: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/spu.portal#
• LiveStats for both games: www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball
 
The first swing through the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule finishes at home for the fifth-ranked Seattle Pacific men's basketball team. The second-place Falcons (13-2, 6-1 GNAC) are one game out of first place as they host Western Oregon (8-7, 3-4) on Thursday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. SPU won 14 of the last 16 meetings with the Wolves, but the teams split the season series last year. On Saturday, Jan. 26 at 4 p.m., the Falcons cap the first half of league play against Saint Martin's (6-9, 2-5) in the annual Homecoming game at Brougham Pavilion. SPU won its last six encounters against the Saints.
 
Ticket Talk
Tickets to SPU basketball games can be purchased at Brougham Pavilion (3414 Third Ave. W., Seattle 98119) on game day. Reserved seats are $8 for center court locations and $7 for other sideline areas. General admission tickets are priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students & senior citizens. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special GA rates by calling (206) 281-2085 in advance. SPU students and staff are free.
 


Dynamic Defense
The SPU defense ranks No. 15 nationally, surrendering only 60.4 points per game. That is lower than the school-record figure of 60.7 points that opponents were limited to last year. The Falcons have a 6-0 record when keeping opponents under 60 points and just two teams (UAA & CWU) have compiled more than 69 points. Falcons foes are shooting just 40.6 percent and none of them has reached the 50-percent plateau.
 
Ranking Report
Seattle Pacific climbed one spot, to No. 5, in this week's national coaches poll. That is the Falcons highest ranking in six seasons, since the 2006-07 squad opened at No. 4 in the preseason poll. Since starting at No. 9 in this season's preseason poll, the SPU men have been in the top-10 every week except one, when they were 13th on Nov. 27.
 
Prolific Passers
The Falcons rank No. 8 nationally with 18.9 assists per game. That figure is phenomenal considering they rank 85th in scoring at 75.1 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 and ranks 17th nationally with 5.6 assists per game. For the season, SPU's 71-percent rate of assisted field goals (284 of 399) is significantly higher than last year's final figure of 64 percent.
 
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. 5 nationally, topping opponents by an average of 11.3 rebounds per game.
 
Next Week
The SPU men hit the road for three straight games, beginning Jan. 31 at Simon Fraser. They clash with No. 2 Western Washington on Feb. 2 at 7:30 in Bellingham.
 
Scouting Western Oregon (8-7, 3-4 GNAC)
> The Wolves, from Monmouth, Ore., feature 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman forward Andy Avgi. His 17.3-point average ranks third among GNAC scorers.
 
> WOU's Devon Alexander, a 6-foot-1 freshman guard, leads the league with 2.7 steals per game.
 
> Seattle Pacific leads the all-time series 35-14, winning 14 of the last 16 meetings.
 
> The teams split the season series last year. The Wolves won last season's first meeting, a 64-58 victory on Dec. 29 in Monmouth. The Falcons were 61-58 victors in the Seattle rematch on Jan. 28.
 
> Brady Bergeson is in his second year as head coach of the Wolves after serving the previous three seasons as an assistant at Sacramento State. He is 1-1 against SPU
 
> Fourth-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has a 5-2 record against WOU. He competed against the Wolves during his playing career at Eastern Oregon.
 
Scouting Saint Martin's (6-9, 2-5 GNAC)
> Saints 6-foot-5 senior forward Roger Neill ranks No. 8 among GNAC scorers at 15.0 points per game.
 
> The Falcons boast a 91-33 lead in all-time matchups, including six straight wins. SPU was victorious in 25 of the last 27 encounters capped by a 56-41 decision on Dec. 31 in Lacey.
 
> SPU swept the season series last year, beginning with a 56-41 decision on Dec. 31, 2011 in Lacey, Wash. The Falcons then won 66-54 on Jan. 26 in Seattle.
 
> Ninth-year Saints coach Keith Cooper served as an assistant on the SPU staff in 2002-03. He has a 2-17 record against the Falcons. Cooper is married to the former Linda Johnson, a basketball standout who is an SPU Hall of Fame inductee.
 
> Fourth-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has a 6-0 record against the Saints.
 
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 games 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 78-26 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 173-81 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.