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2015 GNAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Montana
•Webcasts & LiveStats: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/gnac/
(Pacific Times listed for all games)
 
THURSDAY, MARCH 5 (Quarterfinals)
Game 1 –  (#6) Northwest Nazarene vs. (#3) Central Washington, 4:15 p.m.
Game 2 – (#4) Alaska Anchorage vs. (#5) Western Washington, 6:30 p.m.
 
FRIDAY, MARCH 6 (Semifinals)
Game 3 – Winner Game 1 vs. (#2) Seattle Pacific, 4:15 pm
Game 4 – Winner Game 2 vs. (#1) Western Oregon, 6:30 pm
 
SATURDAY, MARCH 7 (Championship)
Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 6:30 pm
 
Two-time champion Seattle Pacific begins defense of its Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament title this week and may need to repeat to advance to the NCAA Division II men's basketball playoffs. The Falcons (21-7) bring a five-game winning streak and the No. 2 seed into the GNAC Tournament. They have a semifinal matchup on Friday, Mar. 6 at 4:15 p.m. against the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal clash between No. 3 seed Central Washington (17-8) and No. 6 Northwest Nazarene (13-15). The Falcons defeated both of those teams last week at home. The other semifinal pairing has top-seeded Western Oregon meeting the quarterfinal victor between No. 4 Alaska Anchorage and No. 5 Western Washington. The GNAC men's championship game will be played Saturday, Mar. 7 at 6:30 p.m. All games will be played at Alterowitz Gymnasium in Billings, Mont.
 
GNAC Format
For the fifth season, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference is sponsoring a single-elimination postseason men's basketball 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, Western Oregon and Seattle Pacific, receiving first-round byes. All games will be played at Alterowitz Gymnasium in Billings, Mont. on the Montana State Billings campus.
 
SPU in the GNACs
The Falcons have a 5-2 record in GNAC Tournament play with two of those wins coming last year en route to the 2014 championship. The top-seeded Falcons got a 73-57 semifinal win over Western Oregon before beating No. 2 seed Western Washington in the title tilt, 65-62. That was the second straight championship for SPU, which defeated WWU 72-70 in 2013 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.



Playoff Pursuit
Seattle Pacific is in pursuit of its 11th straight NCAA Tournament berth. The Falcons were playoff participants every year since 2005, their longest consecutive tournament run in school history. The current stretch of 10 NCAA berths is the longest current postseason streak among Division II men's basketball teams. The Falcons advanced to the national semifinals in both 2000 and 2006, placing third both times.
 
Falcons Fast Facts
The Falcons won 20 games for a school-record sixth straight season and the 23rd overall in school history ... The Falcons lead all GNAC teams in field goal accuracy (50.7%), rebound margin (+13.6), scoring defense (63.7), field goal defense (41.9%), scoring margin (+15.4), free throws made (452) and 3-point defense (30.9%) ... SPU has recorded three 100-point games for the first time since the 2006 season. The last time the Falcons hit the century mark more often was in 2000 with five 100-point performances ... Sophomore center Joe Rasmussen's father, Blair, had a eight-year NBA career in Denver and Atlanta.
 
Scouting Central Washington (17-8, 12-6 GNAC)
> The third-seeded Wildcats won four of their last five games.

> Central's offense is led by guard Dom Williams, who scores at a 19.9-point clip.

> CWU leads the all-time series 72-51 despite losing nine of the last 11 meetings. SPU had won five straight contests before falling 73-67 on Dec. 6 in Ellensburg. The Falcons won the rematch 69-47 on Feb. 26 in Seattle during the most recent meeting.

> In his sixth season at SPU, Ryan Looney has a 10-5 record against the Wildcats.
 
Scouting Northwest Nazarene (13-15, 11-7 GNAC)
> The Crusaders, from Nampa, Idaho, won three of their last four games.
 
> Junior guard Erik Kinney leads NNU with 14.8 points per game.
 
> The Falcons lead the series 54-22, including wins in eight straight and 18 of the last 20 meetings. They were 77-51 victors on Dec. 4 in Nampa and won 60-49 on Feb. 28 in Seattle. SPU dealt the Crusaders their two lowest-scoring games of the season.
 
> Sixth-year SPU coach Ryan Looney is 11-1 versus the Crusaders.
 
Straight Shooters
The Falcons rank No. 7 nationally in field goal accuracy at 50.7 percent. SPU reached the 50-percent mark in 14 of 28 games and outshot opponents 21 times, winning 20 of those.
 
Dynamic Defense
The SPU defense is ranked No. 19 nationally and tops in the GNAC, surrendering just 63.9 points per game. The 2013 squad established the school record in that category, limiting foes to 60.7 points. Falcons' foes are shooting 41.9 percent and just three of them reached the 50-percent plateau in a game this season.
 
On the Rebound
The Falcons lead the nation in rebound margin, collecting an average of 13.6 more caroms per game than their opponents. On Jan. 8, SPU gathered a remarkable 36 more rebounds than Simon Fraser (53-17), on Feb. 26 they had 35 more than Central Washington (60-25) and on Nov. 18 they limited Rollins to just 14 rebounds while hauling in 41. The Falcons have been outrebound just once this season, on Nov. 22 at BYU-Hawaii (25-27).

 

GNAC Awards
First-team all-league honoree Riley Stockton was voted the Defensive Player of the Year for the second time and four of his Seattle Pacific teammates were also recognized when the 2015 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball awards were announced Monday. The Falcons placed Cory Hutsen on the All-GNAC second team, while Matt Borton, Mitch Penner and Shawn Reid were honorable mention selections. Stockton adds this year's honor to his 2013 Defensive Player of the Year award. He helped the SPU men top the conference in several defensive categories. They limited opponents to 41.9-percent field goal shooting while holding them to an average of five fewer points than any other team at 63.7 per game. That dynamic defense helped the Falcons compile a plus-15.4 point scoring margin that ranks No. 8 among NCAA Division II competitors. An average of 6.7 rebounds per game for Stockton ranks fifth in the GNAC and fuels the Falcons' national-leading differential (13.6). He scores at a 9.7-point clip, ranks sixth among the GNAC players with 6.7 assists per game and his 53.3-percent field goal accuracy is 14th. Hutsen leads the Falcons with 15.8 points per game, a figure that ranks seventh among GNAC players. He is the nation's 30th-most accurate shooter at 58.6 percent. Hutsen tops the team with 24 double-figure scoring games, including 11 performances of 20-or-more points.
 
Famous Uncle
Senior guard Riley Stockton is the nephew of NBA Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton, who compiled a record 15,806 assists during his 19-season career with the Utah Jazz (1984-2003). Riley was a first-team All-GNAC honoree in 2015 and a two-time GNAC Defensive Player of the Year (2015 & 2013). Riley Stockton prepped at Ferris High School in Spokane, Wash. In 2013, the 6-foot-4 guard became the shortest player to lead the GNAC in rebounding at 7.5 boards per game. He has 108 assists this season to become the eighth player in SPU history with three 100-assist campaigns. Stockton is arguably the Falcons finest all-around player ever as attested by his lofty career rankings in numerous statistical categories.
 
Riley  Stockton's SPU Rankings
Career Minutes -- 1st (3,906)
Career Wins -- 1st, tie (97)
Career Games Played -- 2nd, tie (122)
Career Starts -- 4th (105)
Career Steals -- 5th (148)
Career Rebounds -- 7th (726)
Career Assists -- 9th (425)
Career Block Shots -- 10th (48)
 
Cory  Hutsen's SPU Rankings
Career Wins -- 1st, tie (97)
Career Games Played -- 2nd, tie (122)
Career Minutes -- 9th (2,592)
Career Points -- 12th (1,272)

Hutsen Joins 1,000-Point Club

Cory Hutsen scored his 1,000th career point on Dec. 12, becoming the 34th player in SPU history to reach that milestone. The 6-foot-8 senior center currently ranks 12th on SPU's scoring list with 1,272 points. He needs 12 more to take over the No. 11 spot from Tony Binetti (2002-2006), who compiled 1,283 points. Hutsen leads SPU with a 15.8-point average, including 11 games of 20 points.
 
Looney's Ledger
Ryan Looney, the 2014 GNAC Coach of the Year, directed Seattle Pacific into the playoffs in each of his five previous seasons. He has a 139-41 record at SPU, including a 26-6 mark last year. SPU won both the GNAC regular season and tournament championships in 2014. The Falcons registered a 27-4 record in 2013, equaling the school standard for single-season victories while establishing the best winning percentage (87.1%) in program history. They won the 2013 GNAC Tournament title and advanced to the West Region championship game for the second straight season. 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, 39, has a 234-96 career record, including a 95-55 ledger in five seasons with Eastern Oregon.