SEATTLE – Seattle Pacific received the No. 5 seed and was paired with a familiar foe for the first round of the West Regional when the 64-team NCAA Division II Tournament men's basketball field was announced Sunday night.
 
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament regular-season champion Falcons return to the NCAA playoffs for the second straight season under Coach Grant Leep. They participated every year from 2005-16, a 12-year streak that was the longest in Division II at the time, before a two-year absence in 2017 and 2018.
 
"I'm just really excited because this tournament is so hard to get into," said Leep, the 2020 GNAC Coach of the Year. "So, for us to be back into it again is a good honor and a validation of hard work for our guys and the things that we've gone through together this season."
 
Seattle Pacific (22-7) has a first-round clash against No. 4 seed Chico State on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in La Jolla, California. The Wildcats (23-7) tied for second place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association standings. They were 75-53 victors at SPU on Nov. 8, 2019 in the season opener for both teams.
 
"With the information that we had, it was kind of what we were expecting," Leep said of the rematch. "It's another chance to play Chico State, who beat us to start the season."
 
"With as young as we are and as we're growing, maturing and developing as team and getting better, March is like a new season. Now we get to start this new season against the same team that we started our real season with back in November."
 
The SPU-Chico winner advances to Saturday's regional semifinals for a 7:30 p.m. meeting with the first-round victor between top-seeded UC San Diego (30-1) and GNAC Tournament champion Western Washington (20-10).
 
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The Falcons, who lost just three times in their last 25 outings, fell 86-85 to Alaska Anchorage on Friday in the semifinals of the conference tournament. They are one of eight teams vying for the West Region title.
 
All three rounds of the West Regional will be played at RIMAC Arena on the UC San Diego campus.
 
UCSD is hosting by virtue of its status as the top seed in the region. The Tritons are in their final year as an NCAA Division II member as they are transitioning to the Division I level.
 
In the other half of the regional bracket, No. 2 seed Azusa Pacific (25-4) has a first-round encounter with No. 7 seed Cal State San Bernardino (21-8) at 2:30 p.m.
 
The winner of that game will meet the survivor of the noon matchup between No. 3 seed Cal Poly Pomona (23-7) and No. 6 Point Loma (24-6).
 
The regional championship game is slated for Monday, Mar. 16 at 7 p.m.
 
The West Regional has a Friday-Saturday-Monday format due to a number of church-affiliated institutions that have a non-Sunday playing status. The nation's seven other regions have a Saturday-Sunday-Tuesday format.
 
The West Region champion earns a trip to the Elite Eight at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. The national quarterfinals are set for Mar. 26 with the semifinals on Mar. 28.
 
The championship game will be televised live by CBS on April 5 at 1 p.m. Pacific Time. It will be played on the Sunday of Final Four weekend at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, the site of the Division I championship.
 
Point Loma captured last year's West Region crown and advanced to the national title game before losing 64-58 to 2019 champion Northwest Missouri State.
 
The SPU men won their NCAA Tournament opener in seven of their last 10 appearances. They rallied from a late 13-point deficit to defeat Chaminade, 77-75, last year in San Diego before losing 67-63 to Saint Martin's in the West Regional semifinal.
 
This is the 29th all-time NCAA Tournament berth for SPU, which advanced to the national semifinals in 2000 and 2006 and placed third both times.
 
2020 NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
West Regional
RIMAC Arena / La Jolla, Calif.
 
Friday, March 13 (Regional Quarterfinals)
Game 1 - #6 Point Loma (24-6) vs. #3 Cal Poly Pomona (23-7), 12:00 p.m.
Game 2 - #7 Cal State San Bernardino (21-8) vs. #2 Azusa Pacific (25-4), 2:30 p.m.
Game 3 - #8 Western Washington (20-10) vs. #1 UC San Diego (30-1), 5:00 p.m.
Game 4 - #5 Seattle Pacific (22-7) vs. #4 Chico State (23-7), 7:30 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 14 (Regional Semifinals)
Game 5 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 5:00 p.m.
Game 6 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7:30 p.m.
 
Monday, March 16 (Regional Championship)
Game 7 - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 7:00 p.m.
(winner advances to Elite Eight, Mar. 26-28 in Evansville, Ind.) 
 
• Pacific Daylight Times listed for all games
• All games to be played in RIMAC Arena on the UC San Diego campus.