SEATTLE -  The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team is set to compete in this weekend's Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament for the 11th time in program history. The Falcons enter as the third seed and open the tournament against Northwest Nazarene on Thursday at noon in Bellingham, Wash.
 
QUOTABLE
"Anytime you have earned the right to play into March, it is special," head coach Grant Leep said. "Tournament basketball brings an increased intensity and focus. I'm excited to see how we prepare and play this week. This team has worked hard this year, and we've been through a lot of ups and downs together. Such is the journey of a young team. They also have stepped up to the challenges in front of them consistently. We're looking forward to the conference tournament."
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, March 2
Game 1: Noon Men's Quarterfinal #3 SPU vs. #6 NNU
Game 2: 2:15 p.m. Men's Quarterfinal #4 CWU vs. #5WOU
 
Friday, March 3
Game 5: Noon Men's Semifinal 3/6 winner vs. #2 MSUB
Game 6: 2:15 p.m. Men's Semifinal 4/5 winner vs. #1 SMU
  
Saturday, March 4
Game 9: 5:00 p.m. Men's Championship Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6

GNAC MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced its men's basketball All-Conference teams on Tuesday morning, featuring Seattle Pacific's Shaw Anderson as a unanimous selection to the First Team while Zack Paulsen earned an honorable mention.
 
Anderson had a breakout season for the Falcons after earning GNAC Honorable Mention a season ago. He established himself as one of the best scorers in the league and west region, leading the GNAC with 19.8 points per game. He finished the season ranked 36th in the country in points per game. Anderson does it efficiently, hitting on 53.3 percent of his attempts from the field and 41.3 percent from the 3-point range. Anderson knocked down 85.1 percent of his free throws, the sixth-best percentage in the conference.
 
Paulsen put together a solid season for the Falcons. He started 26 games and averaged 1.17 points per game. He shot 46.6 percent from the field and hit 37.1 percent of his 3-point attempts. Paulsen was tied for 10th in the league with 1.8 3-pointers made per game. Paulsen is consistent from the free throw line, hitting 88.8 percent from the charity stripe for the third-best percentage in the conference. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons welcomed the Alaska schools to Royal brougham Pavilion last weekend. They'd go on to beat Alaska Anchorage 72-71 last Thursday night. Anderson was the hero after his put-back layup with less than five seconds left gave SPU the one-point lead they needed to pick up the win. SPU erased a nine-point deficit in the final 3:13 of the game to secure the win. 
 
Then on Saturday, the Falcons honored seniors Paulsen and Kelton Samore before playing Alaska Fairbanks. It was a gritty game in which SPU used a 15-7 run and a 17-5 run in the second half to earn the 60-51 victory. 
 
NCAA DII WEST REGION RANKINGS
The NCAA announced its second regional rankings last Wednesday afternoon. This week's rankings were listed numerically in order. The Falcons found themselves in ninth trailing Hawaii Hilo. Since then, the Vulcans have lost two games while the Falcons picked up two wins. Fellow GNAC schools Saint Martin's and MSU Billings join the Falcons inside the top 10. New rankings come out tomorrow. 
 
STILL SHOOTING IT WELL
The Falcons hope to take their sharp shooting into the conference tournament this weekend. The Falcons rank eighth in the country in shooting percentage at 50.7 percent. SPU is also inside the top 25 in 3-point percentage, splashing home 39.3 percent of their attempts. 
 
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE NIGHTHAWKS 
The Nighthawks enter the weekend as the sixth seed with a 9-9 conference record. They've scuffled a bit down the stretch, losing three of their last four games. They're led by their All-Conference selections in Gabe Murphy and Tru Allen. Murphy earned Second Team All-GNAC Honors after leading the league with 8.8 rebounds per game, with 3.5 boards per game coming offensively. He ranked ninth in the conference in shooting percentage, netting 55.1 percent per game and averaging 11.5 points per contest. 
 
Allen earned GNAC Honorable Mention and tied for the top spot in steals with 1.9 per game. The guard was 12th in the conference in scoring with 12.4 points per game and had 2.2 assists per game.