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2016 GNAC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
•Webcasts & LiveStats: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/gnac/
 
Thursday, March 3 (Quarterfinals) -- Pacific Times Listed
Game 1 –  (#6) Western Washington vs. (#3) Alaska Anchorage, 12:00 pm
Game 2 – (#5) Central Washington vs. (#4) Seattle Pacific, 2:15 pm
 
Friday, March 4 (Semifinals)
Game 3 – Winner Game 1 vs. (#2) Alaska Fairbanks, 12:00 pm
Game 4 – Winner Game 2 vs. (#1) Western Oregon, 2:15 pm
 
Saturday, March 5 (Championship)
Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 5:30 pm (American Sports Network)
 
Three-time champion Seattle Pacific begins defense of its Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament title this week, but will need to win an extra game to four-peat. The Falcons (21-7) bring a three-game winning streak and the No. 4 seed into the GNAC Tournament. They have a quarterfinal matchup on Thursday, Mar. 3 at 2:15 p.m. against No. 5 seed Central Washington (18-7). They split their regular-season meetings as each won on its own home court. The three-day conference playoffs run from March 3-5 at Marcus Pavilion on the Saint Martin's campus. Thursday's SPU/CWU winner meets top-seeded Western Oregon (25-3) on Friday at 2:15 p.m. The championship game is Saturday, Mar. 5 at 5:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on the American Sports Network.
 
Title Talk
SPU is the only school with more than one men's GNAC Tournament title to its credit after winning in 2013, 2014 and 2015. This year will be a tougher challenge for the Falcons, who must win three games on consecutive days. They needed just two wins in each of the previous three years as they were a top-two seed and benefited from first-round byes. No team has won games on three straight days to win the Tournament title. Montana State Billings captured the 2012 crown with a run of three wins during a four-day span.
 


GNAC History
For the sixth 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 Alaska Fairbanks, receiving first-round byes. 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.
 
SPU in the GNACs
The Falcons have a 7-2 record in GNAC Tournament play with two of those wins coming last year en route to the 2015 championship. Then second-seeded SPU got a 73-54 semifinal win over Northwest Nazarene before beating No. 5 seed Western Washington in the title tilt, 81-68. That was the third straight championship for SPU, which defeated WWU 65-62 in 2014 and 72-70 in 2013 on a last-second 3-pointer by Jobi Wall. In the inaugural 2011 tournament, No. 3 seed SPU 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.
 
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.
 
Scouting Central Washington (18-7, 13-7 GNAC)
> Something's gotta give Thursday when the GNAC's second-most potent offense (CWU-84.0 ppg) meets its stingiest defense SPU (64.9 ppg). There is a 20-point difference between what Central scores and the Falcons surrender.
 
> Joseph Stroud paces Central with 16.6 points per game and a team-leading 6.8 rebounds per outing.
 
> CWU leads the all-time series 73-52 despite losing 10 of the last 13 meetings. The Falcons won this season's first clash 75-62 on Jan. 14 in Seattle and Central won the rematch 71-58 on Feb. 13.
 
> In his seventh SPU season, Ryan Looney has an 11-6 record against the Wildcats.
 
Scouting Western Oregon (25-3, 18-2 GNAC)
> The sixth-ranked Wolves won the last two GNAC regular-season titles (2015, 2016).
 
> If they meet in the semifinal, expect a low-scoring contest as SPU leads the GNAC by limiting opponents to 64.9 points per game while WOU is second at 69.2.
 
> Senior forward Andy Avgi, the GNAC Player of the Year, scores at a 20.6-point clip to lead the Wolves and rank second in the league. Avgi dropped 34 points on the Falcons in this season's first meeting (Jan. 7) and had 29 in Seattle (Feb. 6).
 
> SPU leads the all-time series 40-18 despite losing the last three encounters, all of them in overtime. WOU swept the regular-season series with a 96-90 overtime home win on Jan. 7 and was an 84-82 overtime road victor on Feb. 6.  Still, the Falcons have won 19 of the last 25 meetings.
 
> Former Wolves All-American player, Jim Shaw, is in his first year as head coach of the Wolves after nine years as an assistant at Washington. He is 2-0 against SPU.
 
> Seventh-year SPU coach Ryan Looney has a 10-6 record against WOU. He competed against the Wolves during his playing career at Eastern Oregon.

 

Prolific Penner
SPU senior Mitch Penner was named to the All-GNAC first team after being honorable mention in 2015. He received the GNAC Player of the Week award three times this season, most recently on Feb. 29. Penner netted his 1,000th career point on Jan. 28 at Fairbanks and currently ranks 14th among all-time SPU players with 1,226 points. The 6-foot-5 forward tops the current team with an 18-point average that includes twelve 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.
 
20-Game Winners
The Falcons' win on Feb. 25 clinched 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 streak of 20-win campaigns 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.  
 
Dynamic Defense
The Falcons rank No. 2 nationally in 3-point field goal defense, limiting opponents to 29.2-percent shooting beyond the arc (158 of 542). They rank No. 13 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 fourth stingiest D-II team, yielding only 64.9 points per game.
 
Falcons Fast Facts
SPU has compiled winning streaks of nine and eight games this season ... The Falcons have a 13-1 record when scoring the game's first point and are 20-2 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.
 
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 12.5 rebounds per contest to rank No. 1 nationally.

 

GNAC Awards
Seattle Pacific's Mitch Penner was named to the first team while senior classmate Gilles Dierickx was a second-team selection and Bryce Leavitt an honorable mention pick when 2016 GNAC men's basketball awards were announced Mar. 1. Penner leads the SPU offense with an 18-point figure that ranks fourth among GNAC scorers. He averages 5.6 rebounds and shoots 51 percent from the field, including 44 percent on 3-pointers. Dierickx tops SPU with 6.9 rebounds per game and is second in scoring with an 11.5-point average. He ranks fourth among GNAC players in both field goal percentage (57.2%) and blocked shots (36). Leavitt leads the Falcons in assists (4.5 apg) and steals (15), ranks second in rebounding (6.5 rpg) and fourth in scoring (9.3 ppg).
 
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.

Big Man on Campus
Gilles Dierickx stands out on campus as the first 7-footer in SPU history. A second-team All-GNAC selection, he has stood tall on the court recently, posting double-doubles in three of his last eight games with five of them overall. The senior center leads all Falcons with 6.9 rebounds per game and is second in scoring with an 11.5-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.

 

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. He 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 164-49 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 258-104 career record and was 95-55 in five years at EOU.
 
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.