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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13 –
Simon Fraser at (#15) Seattle Pacific, 7:30 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15 –
(#24) Western Washington at (#15) Seattle Pacific, 7:30 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
• Webcast for both games: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/spu.portal#
• LiveStats for both games: www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball
 
The 15th-ranked Seattle Pacific men put their first-place standing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference on the line with a pair of home games this week. The Falcons (20-4, 11-2 GNAC) host Simon Fraser (9-11, 2-10) on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m. SPU won all 11 previous meetings against the Clan. On Saturday, Feb. 15, No. 24 Western Washington (16-4, 10-2) invades Brougham Pavilion for a 7:30 p.m. game. Neither team has lost since the last meeting when the second-place Vikings lost 76-60 on Jan. 15 in Bellingham. SPU has a nine-game winning streak and WWU won its last six. Both games this week are nightcaps of doubleheaders with the SPU women, who play at 5:15 p.m.
 
White Out
Fans are encouraged to wear white SPU attire to Brougham Pavilion for Saturday's "White Out" game.
 
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. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special GA rates by calling (206) 281-2085. Tickets for Saturday's Western Washington game can be purchased in advance online at:  
https://quikpayasp.com/spu/commerce_manager/payer.do?orderType=ATHMBBvsWWU
 


20-Game Winners
The Falcons (20-4) secured their unprecedented fifth consecutive 20-win season and the 22nd overall in school history. They previously strung together four 20-victory seasons from 1999 to 2002. The current streak of 20-win seasons started in Coach Ryan Looney's first year, a 22-6 campaign in 2009-10. That was followed by records of 20-10, 23-8 and a 27-4 mark last season that tied the school record for victories and marked the finest winning percentage (87.1%) in the 70-year history of the program.  
 
Pacific Northwest Powers
Saturday's Battle at Brougham is a rematch of last year's GNAC championship game, won on a last-second 3-pointer by the Falcons' Jobi Wall. WWU claimed the league's regular-season crown in 2013. SPU won this season's first meeting, a 76-60 victory that stopped Western's school-record 36-game homecourt winning streak. The Falcons currently have a first-place record of 11-2 with WWU just one-half game back at 10-2. These two teams met in last two NCAA West Regional championship games, with the Vikings advancing to the Elite Eight both years. They won the 2012 national championship. The SPU men have an impressive postseason pedigree. They participated in the last nine NCAA Tournaments, the longest current playoff streak among Division II competitors. The Falcons advanced to the Final Four in 2000 and 2006.
 
Something's Gotta Give
Saturday's matchup features a stark contrast in styles. There is a 21.5-point difference between what the Vikings score and SPU allows. Western ranks 17th nationally with an offense that produces 86.8 points per game. The Falcons counter with the nation's No. 17 defense that surrenders an average of just 65.3 points to opponents.
 
Scouting Simon Fraser (9-11, 2-10 GNAC)
> Located in Burnaby, B.C., Simon Fraser became the first college from outside the United States to join the NCAA and the GNAC in 2010-11.
 
> The Clan's Sango Niang ranks third among GNAC players with 5.3 assists per game.
 
> SFU is much improved lately, with a 70-60 win over Alaska Fairbanks and one-point losses to Alaska Anchorage and Western Washington in its last three outings.
 
> The Falcons won all 11 previous meetings vs. Simon Fraser, including a 73-49 decision on Jan. 18 in Burnaby in this season's first meeting.
 
> In his fifth season at SPU, Ryan Looney has a 7-0 record against the Clan.
 
Scouting Western Washington (16-4, 10-2 GNAC)
> The 24th-ranked Vikings won their last six games since losing 76-60 to SPU on Jan. 15. That defeat halted their school-record 36-game home winning streak.
 
> The Falcons own a 78-50 series advantage, but lost six of the last eight meetings. SPU's won two of the last three, including a 72-70 decision on Mar. 9 in the 2013 GNAC Tournament title game. Jobi Wall's last-second 3-pointer carried SPU to the conference championship.
 
> The Vikings lead the lead in scoring at 86.8 points per game while SPU surrenders a league-low 65.3 points. Both figures rank No. 17 nationally among Division II teams.
 
> Western is coached for the second season by Tony Dominguez, who served as an assistant coach on the staff for the last 17 years. He replaced 27-year coach Brad Jackson who is now an assistant at Washington. Dominguez is 3-2 versus Seattle Pacific.
 
> In his fifth season at SPU, Ryan Looney has a 6-6 record against the Vikings.
 
Climbing the Charts
Senior point guard David Downs is the only player in history to rank among SPU's all-time top-5 in both points and assists. He owns the No. 4 spot among all-time Falcons scorers with 1,586 points and is also fourth in playmaking with 528 assists. Downs distributed 117 this season to become just the second player in school history to compiled four 100-assist seasons (Robin Marshall, 1980-83).
 
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 18.9 points and 4.9 assists. A two-time, first-team all-conference selection, 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 48.8 percent (61 of 125) from 3-point range to rank No. 8 nationally. Downs was a Division II Bulletin All-American and the MVP of the 2013 GNAC Tournament after leading SPU to the title.
 
Straight Shooters
The Falcons rank No. 9 nationally in field goal accuracy at 51.0 percent. That figure includes a 43.0-percent mark on 3-pointers that is the nation's fourth best. Among the nation's finest 3-point shooters, Patrick Simon ranks No. 2 (52.2%) and David Downs is No. 8 (48.8%). SPU reached the 50-percent mark in half (12) of its 24 games and outshot opponents on 19 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 treys.
 
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.
 
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 112-32 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 112-32 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 207-87 career record, including a 95-55 ledger in five seasons with Eastern Oregon.