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THURSDAY, JANUARY 2 –
(#14) Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon, 7:00 p.m. PST
New PE Building / Monmouth, Ore.
• Webcast & LiveStats: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/spu.portal#
 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 4 –
(#14) Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, 7:30 p.m. PST
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
• Webcast & LiveStats: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/spu.portal#
 
Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball competition resumes in earnest for 14th-ranked Seattle Pacific, which plays a pair of road games this week. The Falcons (11-2, 2-0 GNAC) visit Western Oregon (8-4, 1-1) on Thursday, Jan. 2. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at the New PE Building in Monmouth, Ore. They are the two hottest teams in the league as both WOU and SPU bring four-game winning streaks into Thursday's conference clash. On Saturday, Jan. 4 the Falcons visit Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Wash. for a 7:30 p.m. encounter with Saint Martin's (4-6, 1-1). SPU won its last eight meetings against the Saints. The Falcons return home next week to host the Alaska schools.
 


GNAC Openers
The SPU men beat Northwest Nazarene (73-54) and Central Washington (80-67) at home in early December to open GNAC play. They have not won their first three conference games since starting the 2010 league campaign with seven straight victories en route to the GNAC championship.
 
GNAC Race
Picked first in the preseason coaches poll, the Falcons are seeking their fifth GNAC championship since the league was formed in 2002. 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.
 
100 & Counting
Fifth-year coach Ryan Looney registered his 100th victory on the SPU sidelines with a 73-54 home win on Dec. 5 versus Northwest Nazarene. He is the fourth coach in school history to post 100 wins and hit the century mark faster than any of his predecessors, doing so in his 130th game. Previously the quickest to 100 wins on the SPU sidelines was current Washington State coach Ken Bone who took 146 games to reach that milestone in his sixth season with the Falcons. A 103-30 record gives Looney fewer Falcons wins than only Les Habegger (267), Ken Bone (253) and Jeff Hironaka (134).
 
Senior Sharpshooter
Patrick Simon compiled 30 of his career-high 33 points with a school-record 10 three-pointers on Nov. 29 against San Francisco State. His 10 treys eclipsed the SPU single-game record of nine held by three former Falcons: Drake Hudgins (2000), Dustin Bremerman (2006) and Marques Echols (2008). Led by Simon's 10-for-12 performance behind the arc, the Falcons combined to make a remarkable 19 of 24 three-pointers as a team. The 6-foot-8 forward is a second-year transfer from Washington State.
 
Falcons Fast Facts
SPU owns the longest current playoff streak among NCAA Division II men's basketball teams at nine years ... Seven returning Falcons already reached their single-game scoring high this year: David Downs (34), Patrick Simon (33), Cory Hutsen (24), Mitch Penner (22), Riley Stockton (15), Brendan Carroll (12) & Ryan Todd (6).
 
Scouting Western Oregon (8-4, 1-1 GNAC)
> The Wolves, from Monmouth, Ore., bring a four-game winning streak into Thursday's game.
 
> WOU ranks second among GNAC teams in field goal percentage defense (43.4%) and steals (9.3 spg).
 
> The scoring duo of Rodney Webster (14.2 ppg) and Marwan Sarhan (14.1 ppg) lead the Wolves attack.
 
> Seattle Pacific leads the all-time series 37-14 and won 16 of the last 18 meetings.
 
> The Falcons swept the 2013 season series, winning a 78-72 overtime decision on Jan. 24 in Seattle before an 82-76 victory on Feb. 23 in Monmouth, Ore.
 
> Brady Bergeson is in his third year as head coach of the Wolves after serving the previous three seasons as an assistant at Sacramento State. He is 1-3 against SPU.
 
> Fifth-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has a 7-2 record against WOU. He competed against the Wolves during his playing career at Eastern Oregon.
 
Scouting Saint Martin's (4-6, 1-1 GNAC)
> Winners of their last three games, the Saints host Montana State Billings on Thursday.
 
> Junior forward Ryan Rogers, a transfer from Lower Columbia Community College, leads SMU in both scoring (15.6 ppg) and rebounding (5.6 rpg).
 
> The Falcons boast a 93-33 lead in all-time matchups, including eight straight wins. SPU was victorious in 27 of the last 29 encounters.
 
> SPU swept the season series last year, beginning with an 82-54 win on Jan. 26 in Seattle and capped by a 60-46 decision on Feb. 21 in Lacey, Wash.
 
> Michael Ostlund is in his first season as head coach at SMU after a five-year stint as the head man at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. He replaced Keith Cooper.
 
> Fifth-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has an 8-0 record against the Saints.
 
Dynamic Downs
Senior David Downs is a preseason All-American and was voted the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year by the league's coaches. The 6-foot-2 point guard is averaging a team-high 20.0 points and 4.9 assists. A two-time, first-team all-conference selection, Downs ranks No. 5 among all-time Falcons with 474 career assists. His 1,392 career points place him seventh among all-time SPU scorers, just two points behind No. 6 Brannon Stone (1,394 from 1998-2002). Downs was the Nov. 11 GNAC Player of the Week and the MVP of both the Disney Tip-Off Classic and GNAC/PacWest Challenge. He is shooting a remarkable 57.1 percent (40 of 70) from 3-point range. Downs (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) was a Division II Bulletin honorable mention All-America selection last year and was the MVP of the 2013 GNAC Tournament after leading SPU to the championship.
 
Famous Uncle
Junior guard 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). The 2013 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, Riley Stockton prepped at Ferris High School in Spokane, Wash. The 6-foot-4 guard last year became the shortest player to lead the GNAC in rebounding at 7.5 boards per game.
 
2014 Preview
Fifth-year coach Ryan Looney has six of his top seven scorers back from last season's 24-7 squad that made its ninth straight playoff appearance. An impressive trio of returning starters is headlined by point guard David Downs, a preseason All-American who was picked as the Preseason Player of the Year by the GNAC coaches. The 6-foot-2 senior received the 2013 GNAC Tournament MVP award after leading SPU to the championship. Downs was the Falcons second-leading scorer with 14.2 points per game and led all GNAC playmakers with 170 assists (5.5 per game). Also back is senior Patrick Simon, a second-team all-conference forward, and junior guard Riley Stockton (Spokane, Wash./Ferris HS), an honorable mention pick. Simon scored at a 13.4-point clip and made 66 treys while shooting 46 percent from 3-point range. Stockton led the league with 7.5 rebounds per game and was named the 2013 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year. Six other lettermen return, led by Cory Hutsen (6-8, Jr.) who takes over the starting center post after averaging 9.2 points as the backup. An impressive cast of newcomers includes Division I transfers Matt Borton (6-5, Jr., G, Idaho) and Jake Ehlers (6-7, So., F, Portland) along with 6-8 freshman center Joe Rasmussen, whose father Blair had a eight-year NBA career in Denver and Atlanta. SPU must fill voids left by starters Jobi Wall and Andy Poling. Wall, a forward, led the Falcons in scoring (14.3 ppg) and topped the nation in 3-point field goal accuracy at 48.9 percent. Poling averaged 10.1 points and 3.9 rebounds from his center position.
 
Looney's Ledger
Ryan Looney directed Seattle Pacific into the playoffs in each of his previous four seasons as head coach. He has a 103-30 record at SPU. The Falcons registered a 27-4 record last year, equaling the school standard for single-season victories while establishing the best winning percentage (87.1%) in the 70-year history of the program. They won the 2013 GNAC Tournament title after placing second in the standings with a 16-2 conference record. SPU won two playoff games before losing 62-58 at Western Washington in the West Region championship game. In 2012, the Falcons compiled a 23-8 record and lost 56-50 to eventual national champion WWU in the regional final. 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, 38, has a 198-85 career record, including a 95-55 ledger in five seasons with Eastern Oregon.