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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25 –
Western Washington at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27 –
Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m. PST
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
• Webcast for both games: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/spu/
• LiveStats for both games: www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball
 
The men's basketball regular season concludes this week with a pair of 7 p.m. home games for Seattle Pacific, which is fighting for a favorable seeding position in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament. The Falcons (19-7, 12-6 GNAC) are tied for fourth place in the standings with Central Washington and trail the two Alaska schools, that are tied for second (13-5), and first-place Western Oregon (16-2). SPU hosts sixth-place Western Washington (15-12, 9-9) on Thursday, Feb. 25. The Falcons won this season's first encounter, 83-64, on Dec. 5 in Bellingham. On Saturday, Feb. 27 Simon Fraser (2-22, 1-17) visits for this season's final game at Brougham Pavilion. SPU won 14 of the last 15 encounters with the Clan, including an 89-55 victory on Dec. 3 in Burnaby, B.C.
 
So Long Seniors
Saturday's game marks the final home playing appearance for five SPU seniors: Brendan Carroll, Gilles Dierickx, Bryce Leavitt, Mitch Penner and Garrett Swanson. Since Carroll and Penner arrived four years ago, the Falcons forged a fantastic 96-25 record with a conference regular-season championship, three GNAC Tournament titles and three NCAA Tournament berths to their credit. Those five seniors will be honored in a brief ceremony prior to Saturday's 7 p.m. tip-off at Brougham Pavilion.  
 


Get Your Tickets
Individual tickets for SPU basketball games can be purchased at Brougham Pavilion (3414 Third Ave. W., Seattle 98119) on game day. Reserved seats are priced at $12 for Thursday's game and $9 on Saturday. General admission tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. SPU students and staff are admitted free.
 
20-Game Winners
The Falcons are one win away from their unprecedented seventh straight 20-win season and the 24th overall in school history. Their previous best was four 20-victory seasons from 1999-2002. The current 20-win streak 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 in 2013 that tied the SPU victory record and marked the program's finest winning percentage ever (87.1%). SPU was 26-6 in 2014 and 24-8 last season.
 
GNAC Tournament
For the sixth year, the GNAC is sponsoring a postseason tournament with the winner receiving the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II playoffs. The six highest finishers from the regular-season standings compete in the tournament with the top two receiving first-round byes. Three-time defending champion SPU has secured a tournement berth, is tied for fourth-place with Central Washingtonand and are one game behind second-place Alaska Anchorage and Fairbanks. All games will be played at Marcus Pavilion on the Saint Martin's campus in Lacey, Wash. The quarterfinal contests are Mar. 3, the semifinals Mar. 4 and the championship game is set for Mar. 5 at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
 
Recent Recap
The Falcons split two games last week. They lost 67-63 at Saint Martin's on Feb. 16 despite double-doubles from Bryce Leavitt (17 points/11 rebounds) and Gilles Dierickx (10/11). On Feb. 20, SPU shot 59 percent in a 93-67 home win vs. MSU Billings.
 
Scouting Western Washington (15-12, 9-9 GNAC)
> The Vikings are led by the high-scoring trio of Jeffrey Parker (17.5 ppg), Ricardo Maxwell (16.1) and Kyle Impero (15.6).
 
> The Falcons own an 82-52 series advantage and won this season's first meeting 83-64 on Dec. 5 in Bellingham, behind Mitch Penner's 17 points.
 
> Western swept the regular-season series in 2015, including an 82-72 victory on Feb. 5, 2015 in the last Seattle meeting. SPU then beat the Vikings 81-68 in the GNAC Tournament championship game for the third straight season.
 
> WWU is coached for the fourth season by Tony Dominguez, who served as an assistant coach on the staff for 17 years. He replaced 27-year coach Brad Jackson who is now an assistant at Washington. Dominguez is 5-6 versus Seattle Pacific.
 
> In his seventh season at SPU, Ryan Looney has a 10-8 record against the Vikings.
 
Scouting Simon Fraser (2-22, 1-17 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 lost their last three games after beating Concordia 90-70 on Feb. 11 for their lone league win.
 
> The SFU offense features the duo of Michael Harper and Oshea Gairey, who average 14.2 and 13.3 points, respectively.
 
> SPU owns a 14-1 lead in the all-time series and won this season's first encounter 89-55 on Dec. 3 in Burnaby.
 
> The Falcons won the first 13 meetings against Simon Fraser before losing 84-83 on Feb. 7, 2015 in the Clan's last visit to Seattle.
 
> In his seventh season at SPU, Ryan Looney has a 10-1 record against the Clan.
 
Dynamic Defense
The Falcons rank No. 2 nationally in 3-point field goal defense, limiting opponents to 29.0-percent shooting beyond the arc (147 of 507). They rank No. 14 among NCAA Division II teams in overall field goal defense at 40.1 percent and allowed just two foes to reach the 50-percent plateau (Western Oregon, 54.8% on Jan. 7 and Central Washington 50.9% on Feb. 13). SPU is the nation's 10th stingiest D-II team, yielding only 65.5 points per game.
 
Close Encounters
The Falcons six GNAC losses came by a combined 21 points, an average of 3.5 per setback. Two of them were overtime defeats, both against currently No. 6-ranked Western Oregon.  The largest loss came by just six points, 96-90, in overtime at Western Oregon on Jan. 7.

 

Prolific Penner
Senior Mitch Penner netted his 1,000th career point on Jan. 28 at Alaska Fairbanks and currently ranks 17th among all-time SPU players with 1,187 points. The 6-foot-5 forward produced 24 points (1.6 ppg) in 2013, 281 (8.8) in 2014, 434 (13.6) in 2015 and has 448 points this season. He tops the current team with a 17.9-point average that includes eleven 20-point performances and a career-high 37-point outburst against Concordia on Feb. 4. That was the highest scoring total for a Falcon since Chris Banchero had 41 on Dec. 18, 2010. Penner was honored as the Feb. 1 GNAC Player of the Week.
 
On the Rebound
The Falcons led the nation in rebound margin in 2014-15, averaging 12.5 more caroms per game than opponents. They are dominating the glass again this season, out-boarding foes by 12.7 rebounds per contest to rank No. 1 nationally.
 
Falcons Fast Facts
SPU has compiled winning streaks of nine and eight games this season ... The Falcons have an 11-1 record when scoring the game's first point and are 18-2 in games they led at halftime ... Five different Falcons have led the team in scoring at least once this season ... Junior center Joe Rasmussen's father Blair had a eight-year NBA career in Denver and Atlanta.
 
Postseason Pursuit
SPU is seeking its 12th straight NCAA Tournament berth. The Falcons have been postseason participants every year since 2005, the longest consecutive playoff streak in school history. The current run of 11 straight postseason berths is the longest current streak among Division II men's basketball teams. SPU advanced to the national semifinals in both 2000 and 2006, placing third both times.
 
Looney's Ledger
Two-time GNAC Coach of the Year Ryan Looney is in his seventh season as the head coach of Seattle Pacific men's basketball program. Looney directed the Falcons to three consecutive GNAC Tournament championships (2012-14), two conference regular-season crowns (2010, 2014) and playoff berths in each of his previous six seasons. He has a 162-49 record at SPU, including a 24-8 mark last year. Looney, who led his alma mater Eastern Oregon to the quarterfinals of the 2009 NAIA Division II Tournament, was hired by SPU on May 26, 2009. He won his opening nine games on the SPU sidelines and reached the 100-win mark faster than any previous SPU coach (130 games). Looney, 40, has a 256-104 career record, including a 95-55 ledger in five seasons at EOU.

 

Big Man on Campus
Gilles Dierickx stands out on campus as the first 7-footer in SPU history. He has stood tall on the court recently, posting double-doubles in three of his last six games with five of them overall. The senior center leads all Falcons with 7.1 rebounds per game and is second in scoring with an 11.6-point average. Dierickx boasts career highs of 25 points (at Western Oregon, Jan. 7) and 17 rebounds (vs. Northwest Nazarene, Jan. 16). He is a transfer from the University of Washington and a native of Ghent, Belgium.
 
Three-Peat
Seattle Pacific won its third consecutive Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament championship on March 7, 2015 in Billings, Montana with an 81-68 victory over Western Washington. No other GNAC school has won more than one title. Departed senior center Cory Hutsen earned MVP honors after erupting for a tournament-record 34 points, on 15-for-23 shooting, in the title tilt.
 
2016 Season Preview
Seattle Pacific's national-leading string of 11 NCAA Division II Tournament appearances will be tested this season. Three starters departed from last year's 24-8 squad, including four of the top-five scorers. Heading the list of returnees for seventh-year coach Ryan Looney's squad is honorable mention all-conference selection Mitch Penner. The 6-foot-5 senior forward ranked second on the team with 13.6 points per game in 2015. Also back is 6-4 senior point guard Bryce Leavitt and his 2.2 assists per game. Capable scoring reserves Brendan Carroll (6.2) and Garrett Swanson (3.6) also return along with talented red-shirt freshmen Nathan Streufert and Coleman Wooten, who are now eligible to play. Along with Dierickx, the impressive list of newcomers features two other transfers; Olivier-Paul Betu (UC Davis) and Hunter Eisenhower (Chadron State). The Falcons need to fill a void left by the departures of starters Matt Borton, Cory Hutsen and Riley Stockton. All three were All-GNAC performers last season and Stockton was a two-time Defender of the Year.