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2014 GNAC Men's Basketball Tournament
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
• Webcasts & LiveStats: http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/gnac.portal#
 
Wednesday, March 5 (Quarterfinals)
Game 1 – (#3) Alaska Fairbanks 69, (#6) Montana State Billings 59
Game 2 – (#5) Western Oregon 94, (#4) Alaska Anchorage 88
 
Thursday, March 6 (Semifinals)
Game 3 – (#3) Alaska Fairbanks vs. (#2) Western Washington, 5:15 pm
Game 4 – (#5) Western Oregon vs. (#1) Seattle Pacific, 7:30 pm
 
Saturday, March 8 (Championship)
Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 5:15 pm
 
Post-season play begins this week for 18th-ranked and regular-season Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season winner Seattle Pacific, which won 13 of its last 14 men's basketball games. The defending champion Falcons (24-5) enter as the top seed for the GNAC Tournament at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Wash.  They have a semifinal matchup on Thursday, Mar. 6 at 7:30 p.m. against No. 5 Western Oregon (18-11), which was a 94-88 quarterfinal winner over Alaska Anchorage on Wednesday. The other semifinal pairing has No. 3 Alaska Fairbanks (18-9) playing No. 2 Western Washington (19-7) in Thursday's 5:15 p.m. semifinal. The GNAC men's championship game will be played Saturday, Mar. 8 at 5:15 p.m. on the Saint Martin's campus.
 
GNAC Format
For the third season, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference is sponsoring a single-elimination 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, SPU and Western Washington, receiving first-round byes. All games will be played at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Wash. on the Saint Martin's campus.
 


SPU in the GNACs
The Falcons have a 3-2 record in GNAC Tournament play with two of those wins coming last year en route to the 2014 championship. The Falcons got an 85-78 semifinal win over Central Washington before beating regular-season winner Western Washington in the title tilt on a last-second 3-pointer by Jobi Wall. In the inaugural 2011 tournament, SPU was seeded third and opened with a 69-65 win over No. 6 seed Western Oregon in Seattle before losing 72-67 at No. 2 seed Alaska Anchorage in the semifinals. In 2012, third-seeded SPU lost 70-60 to No. 6 seed Central Washington in Lacey, Wash.
 
Postseason Pursuit
Seattle Pacific is in pursuit of its 10th straight NCAA Tournament berth. The Falcons were postseason participants every year since 2005, the longest consecutive playoff streak in school history. The current run of nine playoff berths is the longest current streak among Division II men's basketball teams. The Falcons advanced to the national semifinals in both 2000 and 2006, placing third both times.
 
GNAC Title
The Falcons finished with a 15-3 record to secure their fifth GNAC regular-season championship since the league was formed in 2002. They captured the 2010 and 2006 conference titles outright. SPU shared the 2007 crown with Seattle University and in 2002 finished in a three-way tie with Humboldt and Western Washington.
 
Scouting Western Oregon (18-11 GNAC)
> The Wolves, from Monmouth, Ore., won seven of their last eight games. The tied for fourth in the final GNAC standings.

> WOU leads the GNAC in steals with 9.2 per game, over one more than the 8.0 of No. 2 Alaska Fairbanks.

> The scoring trio of Rodney Webster (15.3 ppg), Andy Avgi (13.6) and Marwan Sarhan (11.7) lead the Wolves.

> Seattle Pacific leads the all-time series 38-15 and won 17 of the last 20 meetings.

> Western Oregon won this season's first matchup with a 74-70 victory over SPU on Jan. 2 in Monmouth. The Falcons won the rematch 79-47 on Feb. 1 in Seattle.

> Brady Bergeson is in his third year as head coach of the Wolves after serving the previous three seasons as an assistant at Sacramento State. He is 2-4 against SPU.

> Fifth-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has n 8-3 record against WOU. He competed against the Wolves during his playing career at Eastern Oregon.
 
Straight Shooters
The Falcons rank No. 9 nationally in field goal accuracy at 50.8 percent. That figure includes a 43.6-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 (53.6%) and David Downs is No. 7 (47.5%). SPU reached the 50-percent mark in over half (15) of its 29 games and outshot opponents on 22 occasions. The Falcons fantastic shooting was 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.
 
Dynamic Downs
Senior David Downs is a preseason All-American and was voted the GNAC Player of the Year by the league's coaches. The 6-foot-2 point guard is averaging a team-high 20.1 points and 4.7 assists. A three-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 47.5 percent (75 of 158) from 3-point range to rank No. 7 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.
 
GNAC Awards
Seattle Pacific senior David Downs was voted the Player of the Year and Ryan Looney received the Coach of the Year honor when the 2014 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball awards were announced Monday. The Falcons also placed senior Patrick Simon on the all-league first team alongside Downs, while junior Riley Stockton was an honorable mention selection. Downs received eight of 10 first-place votes for the Player of the Year award and was the lone unanimous selection to the all-conference team. He was a first-team all-league pick for the third year in a row, joining three other players that accomplished that feat – Humboldt State's Fred Hooks (2002-04) along with Austin Nichols (2002-04) and Jake Linton of Saint Martin's (2007-09). Downs is listed third in the conference in scoring (20.1 ppg), second in 3-point accuracy (47.5%) and fourth in assists (4.7 apg). Looney earned his second GNAC Coach of the Year honor, also winning the award in 2010. In five years, Looney has directed the Falcons to a 116-33 record with NCAA Division II Tournament appearances every season. His overall collegiate head coaching record in 10 seasons is 211-88.
 
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.
 
Looney's Ledger
Ryan Looney directed Seattle Pacific into the playoffs in each of his previous four seasons as head coach. He has a 116-33 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 211-88 career record, including a 95-55 ledger in five seasons with Eastern Oregon.