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2013 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
West Regional / Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
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• Purchase Tickets: call (360) 650-2583  or buy online at:  http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?organ_val=22357

Friday, March 15 (First Round)
Game 1 – (#6) Grand Canyon vs. (#3) Seattle Pacific, 12:00 pm
Game 2 – (#7) Chico State vs. (#2) Cal Poly Pomona, 2:30 pm
Game 3 – (#5) Cal State San Bernardino vs. (#4) Dixie State, 5:00 pm
Game 4 – (#8) Chaminade vs. (#1) Western Washington, 7:30 pm
 
Monday, March 18 (Regional Semifinals)
Game 5 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 2:30 pm
Game 6 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7:30 pm
 
Tuesday, March 19 (Regional Championship)
Game 7 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 8:30 pm
 
Newly crowned Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament champion Seattle Pacific starts this season's postseason journey at a familiar venue. The second-ranked Falcons (25-3) drew the No. 3 seed for the West Region and travel to Bellingham, Wash. for their ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. That is the longest current streak among Division II men's basketball programs. Seattle Pacific opens with a first-round matchup against No. 6 seed Grand Canyon on Friday, Mar. 15 at noon in Carver Gymnasium on the Western Washington University campus. The Antelopes (23-7) tied for second in the Pac West Conference standings with a 14-4 record. They lost 58-45 to Chaminade in the league tournament semifinals. The Falcons and GCU played five times in the previous three seasons with SPU winning three of those contests. They met once before in the playoffs and Grand Canyon won 87-65 in the first-round on Mar. 9, 2007.
 
West Region Field
The SPU-Grand Canyon victor advances to Monday's semifinals to meet the winner between second-seeded Cal Poly Pomona (27-2) and No. 7 Chico State (19-10) at 2:30 p.m. Those two California Collegiate Athletic Association rivals met in the league tournament title tilt and Pomona won 78-64. The other half of the region bracket has No. 4 Dixie State (22-6) meeting No. 5 Cal State San Bernardino (19-8) at 5 p.m. followed by a 7:30 p.m. clash between top seed Western Washington (27-2) and No. 8 Chaminade (19-10). The regional title game is Tuesday, Mar. 19 at 8:30 p.m. The West Region champion advances to the Elite Eight at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky. The national quarterfinals are set for Mar. 28 and the semifinals on Mar. 30.
 


Group of Death
The NCAA Division II Tournament features a 64-team field broken into eight regionals comprised of eight teams from that geographic area. Because teams are distributed based on location and not overall ratings, a situation can arise like this year's West Regional where three of the nation's top-five ranked teams battle for a single berth into the Elite Eight. Seattle Pacific is ranked second in the coaches poll while defending national champ Western Washington is No. 4, Cal Poly Pomona No. 5 and Dixie State No. 18.
 
NCAA Title Tilt in Atlanta
The NCAA is celebrating the 75th Division I Men's Basketball Championship in 2013. As part of the celebration, all three men's basketball division championship games will be played in the same city and weekend. The Division II national championship game will be played on April 7 at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Ga. CBS will televise that game live at 1 p.m. Pacific Time (4 p.m. Eastern).
 
Ticket Talk
West Regional tickets can be purchased by calling 360-650-2583. Tickets are also available online at: http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?organ_val=22357
 
Scouting Grand Canyon (23-7)
> The Antelopes are in their final year of Division II competition. They will transition to Division I beginning next year as members of the Western Athletic Conference.
 
> First-team All-Pac West point guard Joshua Lowery leads GCU with 13.7 points per game and also in assists with an average of 3.5.
 
> Fourth-year GCU coach Russ Pennell was the interim head coach at Arizona in 2008-09 and directed the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division I Tournament.
 
> The Antelopes encounter SPU for the sixth time in the last four seasons. The home team won both 2009-10 meetings and the Falcons swept both games in 2010-11. GCU won the most recent meeting, a 67-58 decision on Nov. 25, 2011 in Phoenix.
 
> Grand Canyon leads the series 11-8 and won the only prior postseason meeting, an 87-65 first-round decision on Mar. 9, 2007 in Arcata, Calif.
 
> Fourth-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has a 3-2 record against the Antelopes.
 
Close to Home
For the fifth straight season SPU will remain in the state of Washington to start the playoffs. The venue for this year's tournament is WWU's Carver Gym, the site of the 2009, 2010 and 2012 West Regionals. Last year in Bellingham, Western Washington defeated the Falcons 56-50 in the regional championship game. In 2011 the Falcons advanced to the semifinals of the West Regional conducted in Ellensburg.
 
Famous Uncle
Sophomore 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. He led all SPU players in rebounds 21 times, including a career-high 15 boards at Saint Martin's on Feb. 21.
 
We're No. 2
Seattle Pacific rose one spot into the No. 2 position in the NCAA Division II coaches poll released Tuesday. That is the highest ranking in the school's 70-year history. The Falcons, who were ranked No. 3 last week, have been listed in the top-10 for all but one week this season. Prior to this year, their highest poll position was a No. 4 ranking achieved in both the 1994 and 2007 seasons.
 
Record Results
The current team has guaranteed the finest winning percentage in SPU history, a figure that stands at 89.3 percent and won't drop below the previous record of 84.4 percent established in 1999-2000. This year's Falcons need two victories to equal the school-record total of 27 compiled during that 2000 season.
 
Falcons Fast Fact
As a prep pitcher at Faith Christian Academy, 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. On Saturday, Wall hit a last-second, game-winning, 28-foot 3-pointer in SPU's 72-70 GNAC Tournament victory over top-seed Western Washington.
 
20-Game Winners
The Falcons have reached the 20-win plateau for the fourth consecutive season, equaling the school record streak accomplished once before, from 1999 to 2001. They have hit the 20-win plateau 21 times overall.
 
Court Report
David Downs ranks eighth among all-time Falcons with 392 career assists and is 17th in scoring (1,093). Andy Poling is SPU's No. 14 career scorer (1,202) ... Among Division II teams, SPU ranks 3rd in assist/turnover ratio (1.52), 5th in 3-point percentage (41.7%), 7th in rebound margin (+9.9), 6th in scoring margin (+13.6) and 13th in assists (17.2) ... Both GNAC Tournament foes (Central Washington & Western Washington) shot better than 50 percent versus SPU last week, the only two opponents to hit the 50-percent plateau this season.
 
SPU in the NCAAs
The Falcons are participating in the NCAA Tournament for the school-record ninth straight season, the longest current streak among Division II teams. Seattle Pacific will participate in the postseason for the 17th time in the last 20 seasons. The Falcons won at least one game in 18 of its 23 previous NCAA playoff appearances. SPU compiled a 27-23 all-time record in the NCAA playoffs and advanced to the national semifinals in 2000 and again in 2006. Last year, the third-seeded Falcons beat Dixie State (70-68) and Alaska Anchorage (80-67) before losing 56-50 to host and top seed Western Washington in the West Region championship game.
 
Remarkable Rebounders
SPU out-rebounded 25 of its 28 opponents this season. After finishing at third (+10.1) last season, the Falcons rank No. 7 nationally with a plus-9.9 rebounding margin. Sophomore Riley Stockton leads the league with 7.6 rebounds per game. If he remains atop the leaderboard, the 6-foot-4 guard would be the shortest player ever to lead the GNAC in rebounding. He topped all SPU rebounders 21 times.
 
Prolific Passers
The Falcons rank No. 13 nationally with 17.2 assists per game. That figure is all the more remarkable considering they rank just 57th in scoring at 76.4 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 is 20th nationally with 5.4 assists per game (151 total).
 
Dynamic Defense
The SPU defense ranks No. 26 nationally, surrendering 62.8 points per game. Last year's squad established a school record in that category, limiting foes to 60.7 points. The Falcons have an 11-0 record when keeping opponents under 60 points and just eight teams compiled more than 69 points. Falcons foes are shooting 41.2 percent and just two of them have reached the 50-percent plateau in a game.
 
Quoting Coach Ryan Looney
“We talk about consistency all the time and there is no better indication of that than the program going to its ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament. We're excited to play Grand Canyon. They always do a really nice job defensively. They make it tough on you at that end of the floor. We're going to have to be good on the offensive end, be willing to play together and execute what we do. We'll also have to be good defensively ourselves.”
 
Looney's Ledger
Ryan Looney has now directed Seattle Pacific into the playoffs in each of his four seasons as head coach. He compiled a 90-27 record at SPU. The Falcons registered a 23-8 record in 2012, 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 185-82 career record, including a 95-55 ledger in five seasons with Eastern Oregon.
 
GNAC Awards
Sophomore Riley Stockton was voted the Defensive Player of the Year and his Seattle Pacific teammate David Downs was the only repeat first-team, all-league selection when the 2013 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball awards were announced on March 4. The Falcons also placed Jobi Wall and Patrick Simon on the All-GNAC second team, while Andy Poling and Stockton were honorable mention selections.