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2013 NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
West Regional / Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
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Friday, March 15 (First Round)
Game 1 – (#3) Seattle Pacific 85, (#6) Grand Canyon 59
Game 2 – (#2) Cal Poly Pomona 69, (#7) Chico State 61
Game 3 – (#5) Cal State San Bernardino 75, (#4) Dixie State 69
Game 4 – (#1) Western Washington 102, (#8) Chaminade 87
 
Monday, March 18 (Regional Semifinals)
Game 5 – (#3) Seattle Pacific vs. (#2) Cal Poly Pomona, 2:30 pm
Game 6 – (#5) Cal State San Bernardino vs. (#1) Western Washington, 7:30 pm
 
Tuesday, March 19 (Regional Championship)
Game 7 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 8:30 pm
 
A familiar playoff foe awaits second-ranked Seattle Pacific in the second round of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament. The third-seeded Falcons (26-3) have a West Region semifinal matchup against No. 2 seed and fifth-ranked Cal Poly Pomona (28-2) on Monday, Mar. 18. Tip-off is 2:30 p.m. at Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham, Wash. where host and top seed Western Washington (28-2) meets No. 5 Cal State San Bernardino (20-8) at 7:30 p.m. in the other semifinal. The semifinal winners clash on Tuesday, Mar. 19 at 8:30 p.m. in the West Region championship game. The West region winner advances to the Elite Eight, set for Mar. 28 and 30 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky.
 
Notable
SPU's 10-game win streak is its longest since a school-record stretch of 15 wins in 2002 ... The Falcons are one win from tying their single-season victory record of 27 set in 2000 (27-5) ... SPU's current streak of nine playoff appearances is the nation's longest.
 


How They Got Here
David Downs compiled 20 points and 12 assists while Jobi Wall led all scorers with 21 in Seattle Pacific's first-round win on Friday over No. 6 seed Grand Canyon. The Falcons, who shot 58 percent (30 of 52), took control with a 16-4 run late in the first half. Terrence Drisdom's 26 points led Pomona to a 69-61 win over Chico State.
 
Series History
Monday marks the third postseason meeting between SPU and Cal Poly Pomona, all of them coming in Bellingham. The Broncos won both previous playoff encounters, including an 80-72 second-round decision on Mar. 14, 2009 en route to a national runner-up result. Pomona went on to win the 2010 NCAA championship the next season. On Mar. 11, 2005, the Broncos beat SPU 82-77 in the first round. The Falcons won three of five regular-season meetings, trailing 4-3 in the all-time series with Pomona.
 
Group of Death
The 64-team NCAA Division II Tournament features eight geographic regionals of eight teams. Because teams are bracketed based on location and not overall ratings, situations arise like this year's West Regional where three of the nation's top-five ranked teams battle for a single Elite Eight berth. SPU is ranked second in the coaches poll, defending national champ Western Washington is No. 4 and Cal Poly Pomona No. 5.
 
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).
 
Scouting Cal Poly Pomona (28-2)
> The Broncos have a 9-0 record in Bellingham during all-time NCAA Tournament play. They parlayed a 2009 West Region title to a national finals game appearance in 2009. In 2010, another West Region triumph in Bellingham led to a national championship.
 
> Pomona won the CCAA regular season and tournament championships this year.
 
> We'll find out which group was correct as the coaches ranked SPU No. 2 nationally and Pomona No. 5 while the NCAA seeded CPP No. 2 and the Falcons No. 3.
 
> First-team all-region guard Mitchel Anderson leads Pomona with 14.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-5 senior has 10 double-doubles to his credit.
 
> Coach Greg Kamansky is in his 13th year with the Broncos, guiding them to 12 winning seasons, seven trips to the playoffs and the 2010 national championship.
 
> Pomona owns a 4-3 edge in the all-time series and won both previous postseason meetings. CPP defeated the Falcons 80-72 in the second round of the 2009 playoffs and 82-77 in a first-round matchup in 2005.
 
> Fourth-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has never coached against the Broncos.
 
Close to Home
For the fifth straight season SPU remains 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 22 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 Mar. 12. 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 89.7 percent and won't drop below the previous record of 84.4 percent established in 1999-2000. This year's Falcons need one victory 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.
 
Quoting Coach Ryan Looney on Cal Poly Pomona
“They are long, athletic and they make you play different on offense than a traditional team you might play. Luckily we've had a couple days of practice to try to get ourselves prepared. Their style is conducive to being successful in tournament play. We know that we're going to have to play against 40 minutes of zone defense. But, we think that the combination of our ability to shoot from the perimeter, score it on the block and offensive rebound hopefully will give us the ability to have some success.”
 
Court Report
David Downs ranks eighth among all-time Falcons with 403 career assists and is 17th in scoring (1,113). Andy Poling is SPU's No. 14 career scorer (1,209) ... Among Division II teams, SPU ranks 3rd in assist/turnover ratio (1.53), 5th in 3-point percentage (41.8%), 7th in rebound margin (+10.2), 6th in scoring margin (+14.0) and 13th in assists (17.3) ... SPU has a 21-0 record this season in games when it has a better shooting percentage than foes.
 
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 is playing in the postseason for the 17th time in the last 20 seasons. The Falcons have now won at least one game in 19 of their 24 NCAA playoff appearances. SPU compiled a 28-23 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 26 of its 29 opponents this season. After finishing at third (+10.1) last season, the Falcons rank No. 7 nationally with a plus-10.2 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 22 times.
 
Prolific Passers
The Falcons rank No. 13 nationally with 17.3 assists per game. That figure is all the more remarkable considering they rank just 57th in scoring at 76.7 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 5.6 assists per game (163 total).
 
Dynamic Defense
The SPU defense ranks No. 26 nationally, surrendering 62.7 points per game. Last year's squad established a school record in that category, limiting foes to 60.7 points. The Falcons have a 12-0 record when keeping opponents under 60 points and just eight teams compiled more than 69 points. Falcons foes are shooting 41.0 percent and just two of them have reached the 50-percent plateau in a game.
 
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 91-27 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 186-82 career record, including a 95-55 ledger in five seasons with Eastern Oregon.