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SATURDAY, JANUARY 25 –
(#24) Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings, 6:30 p.m. PST (7:30 MST)
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.
•Webcast & LiveStats: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/spu.portal
 
A three-game road trip ends on Saturday, Jan. 25 for the 24th-ranked Seattle Pacific men's basketball team. The first-place Falcons (15-4, 6-2 GNAC) travel to Montana for a matchup with fifth-place Montana State Billings (8-8, 4-4) at 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time (7:30 p.m. Mountain) in Alterowitz Gymnasium. SPU won 78-69 last year at MSUB after losing in each of its previous two visits to Billings. Saturday's game ends a stretch that saw the Falcons play five of seven games away from home. Next week SPU returns home to play five of its next seven games at Brougham Pavilion.
 
Nearing Milestones
Senior point guard David Downs has distributed 499 career assists. With his next, he becomes the fifth player in SPU history to reach the 500-assist mark. Downs has 1,520 career points, needing one more to move into a tie for the No. 5 position among all-time Falcons scorers. Howard Heppner compiled 1,521 points from 1963-66.
 


Player of the Week
SPU senior Patrick Simon, who averaged 21 points while shooting 73 percent in a pair of road victories, received the GNAC men's basketball Player of the Week award on Monday. Simon made 16 of 22 shots from the field, including a remarkable 6 of 7 attempts from 3-point range. He also averaged six rebounds and two steals. The 6-foot-8 forward compiled 29 points and seven rebounds on Jan. 15, carrying SPU to a 76-60 triumph that halted 19th-ranked Western Washington's GNAC and school-record homecourt winning streak at 36 games. On Jan. 18, Simon scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds in a 73-49 win at Simon Fraser.
 
Team of the Week
Seattle Pacific was named the GNAC Team of the Week on Monday after sweeping road games last week at Western Washington (76-60) and Simon Fraser (73-49). The Jan. 15 victory at Carver Gymnasium ended Western's school and GNAC-record homecourt winning streak at 36 games. The Jan. 18 win in Burnaby, B.C. kept the Falcons record perfect in 11 all-time meetings against Simon Fraser.
 
Falcons Fast Facts
Senior David Downs ranks No. 3 nationally in 3-point accuracy at 54.5 percent (55 of 101) ... The Falcons rank No. 3 nationally is fewest turnovers per game (9.0), seventh in field goal accuracy (51.5%), 11th in assist-turnover ratio (1.57), 12th in 3-point percentage (42.6%) and 21st in scoring defense (65.7 ppg) ... Patrick Simon hit a school-record 10 three-pointers on Nov. 29 against San Francisco State ... All eight returning Falcons registered their career-best single-game scoring high this year: David Downs (34), Patrick Simon (33), Cory Hutsen (24), Mitch Penner (22), Riley Stockton (15), Brendan Carroll (15), Ryan Todd (6) and Josh Jordan (2).
 
Next Week
The Seattle Pacific men return home for a pair of games, beginning on Thursday, Jan. 30 against Saint Martin's. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Brougham Pavilion where the Falcons host Western Oregon on Saturday, Feb. 1. That game will be played at 4 p.m. as part of the SPU's annual Homecoming festivities.
 
Straight Shooters
The Falcons rank No. 7 nationally in field goal accuracy at 51.5 percent. That figure includes a 42.6-percent mark on 3-pointers that is the nation's 12th best. Among the nation's finest 3-point shooters, David Downs ranks No. 3 (54.5%) and Patrick Simon is No. 14 (49.4%). SPU reached the 50-percent mark in over half (10) of its 19 games and outshot opponents on 15 occasions. The Falcons fantastic shooting was on display in a Nov. 29 win over San Francisco State. Led by Simon's 10-for-12 performance behind the arc, they combined to make a remarkable 19 of 24 three-pointers as a team.
 
Scouting Montana State Billings (8-8, 4-4 GNAC)
> Saturday's matchup features a battle between the best 3-point shooting team in the GNAC (SPU at 42.6%) and the second-best at defending the trey (MSUB at 29.9%).
 
> Jonathan Mesghna leads the Billings attack by scoring at a 13.6-point clip. Austin Hudson is second at 12.7 points per game, a figure that he improved to a team-leading 14.0 points in league games.
 
> The Falcons lead the all-time series by a 34-29 margin. The Yellowjackets won two straight meetings, both of them in Billings, before being swept in the 2013 season series. SPU won 81-56 on Jan. 12 in Seattle followed by a 78-69 decision on Feb. 9 in Billings.
 
> Jamie Stevens is in his third 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.
 
> Fifth-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has a 6-2 record against MSU Billings.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 20.4 points and 4.6 assists. A two-time, first-team all-conference selection, Downs ranks No. 5 among all-time Falcons with 499 career assists. His 1,520 career points place him sixth among all-time SPU scorers, one point behind No. 5 Howard Heppner (1,521 from 1963-66). 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 54.5 percent (55 of 101) from 3-point range to rank No. 3 nationally. Downs was a Division II Bulletin All-American last year and the MVP of the 2013 GNAC Tournament after leading SPU to the championship.
 
2014 Preview
Six of his top seven scorers back from last season's 24-7 squad that reached the NCAA regional final. An impressive trio of returning starters is headlined by point guard David Downs, the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year. 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, an honorable mention pick. Simon scored at a 13.4-point clip and made 66 treys on 46-percent shooting. 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 averaged 9.2 points as the backup center. 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.
 
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 107-32 record gives Looney fewer Falcons wins than only Les Habegger (267), Bone (253) and Jeff Hironaka (134).
 
Looney's Ledger
Ryan Looney directed Seattle Pacific into the playoffs in each of his previous four seasons as head coach. He has a 107-32 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 NCAAs. 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. Looney, 38, who led his alma mater Eastern Oregon to the quarterfinals of the 2009 NAIA Division II Tournament, was hired May 26, 2009 as the coach at SPU. He was a 202-87 career record, including a 95-55 ledger in five seasons with Eastern Oregon.