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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27 –
(#20) Seattle Pacific at Central Washington, 7:30 p.m. PST
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
 
SATURDAY, MARCH 1 –
(#20) Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene, 6:30 p.m. PST (7:30 MST)
Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho
 
• Webcast & LiveStats link for both games: 
http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/spu.portal#
 
The 20th-ranked Seattle Pacific men (22-5, 13-3 GNAC) seek to clinch the Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball regular-season championship on the road this week. The first-place Falcons clash with Central Washington (11-13, 7-9) and NCAA Division II scoring leader Mark McLaughlin (27.3 ppg) on Thursday, Feb. 27 for a 7:30 p.m. game in Ellensburg. SPU won its last four encounters with the Wildcats. On Saturday, Mar. 1 the Falcons conclude the regular season in Nampa, Idaho at Northwest Nazarene (6-18, 4-12) for a 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time game (7:30 p.m. Mountain Time). SPU won 11 of the last 12 meetings with the Crusaders.
 
GNAC Race
The first-place Falcons (13-3) have a one-game lead over second-place Western Washington (12-4) in the GNAC standings and both have two games left. Any SPU win or Vikings loss clinches at least a tie for the regular-season crown and the No. 1 seed for the GNAC Tournament. Any combination of two Falcons wins or Western losses gives SPU the outright title. 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. The Falcons won the 2013 GNAC Tournament, beating regular-season winner WWU on a last-second 3-pointer by Jobi Wall.
 


GNAC Tournament
For the fourth season, the GNAC is sponsoring a postseason tournament with the winner receiving the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II playoffs. The top six finishers from the regular-season standings compete in the conference tournament with the top two receiving first-round byes. All games will be played at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Wash. on the Saint Martin's campus. The quarterfinal games are Mar. 5 with the semifinals set for Mar. 6 and the final on Mar. 8 at 5:15 p.m. Discounted tickets are available in advance for the GNAC Tournament at this web address: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2013-14-gnac-mens-and-womens-basketball-championships-tickets-8518231259
 
Straight Shooters
The Falcons rank No. 9 nationally in field goal accuracy at 50.8 percent. That figure includes a 42.9-percent mark on 3-pointers that is the nation's third best. Among the nation's finest NCAA Division II 3-point shooters, the Falcons' Patrick Simon ranks No. 1 (52.3%) and David Downs is No. 3 (49.0%). SPU reached the 50-percent mark in over half (14) of its 27 games and outshot opponents on 20 occasions. The Falcons fantastic shooting was vividly on display in a Nov. 29 win over San Francisco State. Led by Simon's single-game school-record 10 makes (on 12 attempts) behind the arc, they combined to hit a remarkable 19 of 24 treys.
 
Scouting Central Washington (11-13, 7-9  GNAC)
> Something's gotta give Thursday when the league's third most prolific offense (Central at 84.6 points per game) meets its stingiest defense (SPU at 66.9 ppg allowed). That's a 17.7 point difference between what CWU scores and the Falcons surrender.
 
> Thursday's clash features two of the premier scorers in the GNAC. The Wildcats Mark McLaughlin leads the league at 27.3 points per game, a figure that ranks No. 1 nationally. SPU counters with David Downs whose 20.4-point scoring clip is this third best in the GNAC.
 
> Central leads the all-time series 71-49 despite losing seven of the last eight meetings. SPU won this season's first matchup 80-67 on Dec. 7 in Seattle.
 
> In his fifth season at SPU, Ryan Looney has a 7-4 record against the Wildcats.
 
Scouting Northwest Nazarene (6-18, 4-12 GNAC)
> The Crusaders, from Nampa, Idaho, won 98-90 at Simon Fraser on Saturday to halt their 10-game losing skid.
 
> NNU's Kevin Rima ranks fourth among GNAC rebounders with 7.8 per game.
 
> The Falcons lead the series 51-22, including wins in five straight and 15 of the last 17 meetings. They were 73-54 victors on Dec. 5 in this season's GNAC opener.
 
> Fifth-year SPU coach Ryan Looney is 8-1 versus NNU.
 
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.
 
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. 3 spot among all-time Falcons scorers with 1,683 points and is second in playmaking with 539 assists. Downs distributed 128 this season to become just the second player in school history to compile four 100-assist seasons (Robin Marshall, 1980-83).
 
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 4.7 assists. A two-time, first-team all-conference selection, Downs was the Nov. 11 and Feb. 17 GNAC Player of the Week and the MVP of both the Disney Tip-Off Classic and GNAC/PacWest Challenge. He is shooting 49 percent (73 of 149) from 3-point range to rank No. 3 nationally. Downs was a Division II Bulletin All-American and the MVP of the 2013 GNAC Tournament after leading SPU to the title. He poured in a career-high 36 points against 24th-ranked Western Washington on Feb. 15 and tallied 31 of his 33 in the second half versus MSU Billings on Feb. 22.
 
20-Game Winners
The Falcons (22-5) have recorded 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.  
 
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 114-33 record gives Looney fewer Falcons wins than only Les Habegger (267), Bone (253) and Jeff Hironaka (134).
 
Ryan Looney directed Seattle Pacific into the playoffs in each of his previous four seasons as head coach. He has a 114-33 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 209-88 career record, including a 95-55 ledger in five seasons with Eastern Oregon.