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SATURDAY, JANUARY 12 --
Montana State Billings at (#8) Seattle Pacific, 7:30 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
• Webcast: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/spu.portal#
• LiveStats: www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball
 
Eighth-ranked Seattle Pacific completes a five-game men's basketball homestand with a single outing this week. The Falcons (10-2, 3-1 GNAC) host a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest against Montana State Billings (8-7, 1-3) on Saturday, Jan. 12 at Brougham Pavilion. The game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. as the nightcap of a doubleheader with the Falcons women, who host Alaska Anchorage at 5:15 p.m. The Yellowjackets lost in each of their last 17 visits to SPU, last winning 74-73 on Jan. 16, 1987.
 
Dynamic Defense
The SPU defense ranks 15th nationally by surrendering 59.8 points per game, which is lower than the school-record figure of 60.7 points opponents were limited to last season. The Falcons have a 5-0 record when keeping opponents under 60 points and just one opponent (Alaska Anchorage) has compiled more than 69 points. Falcons foes are shooting just 40.7 percent and none of them has reached the 50-percent plateau.
 


Ticket Talk
Individual game tickets can be purchased at Brougham Pavilion (3414 Third Ave. W., Seattle 98119) on game day. Ticket windows open one hour before tip-off. Reserved seats for 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 and senior citizens. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special GA rates by calling (206) 281-2085 at least 72 hours in advance. SPU students and staff are admitted free with i.d.
 
Prolific Passers
The Falcons rank No. 9 nationally with 19.3 assists per game. That figure is phenomenal considering they rank 109th in scoring at 74.1 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 with 5.3 assists per game and sophomore Riley Stockton is fifth at 4.4. For the season, SPU's 74-percent rate of assisted field goals (232 of 313) 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 11.8 rebounds per game ... Andy Poling became the 32nd member of SPU's 1,000-point club on Dec. 8. He currently has 1,042 career points.
 
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 hit the road for a game in Nampa, Idaho against Northwest Nazarene (Jan. 17) before visiting Ellensburg to play Central Washington (Jan. 19).
 
Scouting Montana State Billings (8-7, 1-3 GNAC)
> The Yellowjackets won the 2012 GNAC Tournament championship after finishing fifth in the final regular-season standings with a 10-8 league ledger.
 
> Jarrell Crayton leads the Billings attack by scoring at a 15.3-point clip, the seventh-highest figure among GNAC players. The 6-foot-7 senior forward, a transfer from Boise State, also tops MSUB with 7.5 rebounds per game.
 
> SPU leads the all-time series by a slim 32-29 margin. The Yellowjackets won two straight meetings, both of them in Billings, to stop a nine-game losing streak against SPU. MSUB won last season's first encounter 86-77 on Jan. 21 before the Falcons won the rematch 78-70 on Feb. 18 in Seattle in the most recent clash.
 
> Jamie Stevens is in his second year as head coach at MSUB after serving the previous four years at Central Wyoming College. Stevens played for the Yellowjackets and compiled a school-record 805 assists during his career from 1994-99.
 
> Fourth-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has a 4-2 record against MSU Billings.
 
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 has been 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 75-26 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 170-81 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.