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2010 Schedule
SEATTLE – Local basketball fans will have plenty of opportunities to watch the Seattle Pacific men’s basketball team as the Falcons play at home for 17 of the 29 games on their 2009-10 schedule that was announced Monday by first-year coach Ryan Looney.
Looney makes his inaugural appearance on the Brougham Pavilion sidelines on Friday in the first of two exhibition games, both at home. The Falcons entertain Canadian power Simon Fraser, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. The Clan has been accepted into the NCAA Division II, as the first member from outside the United States, and will compete in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference next year.
“I’ve always been a big believer in playing as many home games as possible. If you look at our schedule closely, we have 17 of them,” Looney said. “We’re excited to get to play at home that many times. In my coaching career, my teams have done a great job protecting the homecourt.”
On Nov. 14 at 7 p.m., the SPU men play an exhibition against the Blue Angels, a team comprised of former collegiate standouts.
The Falcons play five games against teams that participated in the postseason last year, including a non-conference contest on Dec. 5 in Seattle against BYU-Hawaii. The Seasiders were the top seed from the West Region in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
The regular season begins at home for SPU, which hosts the Sodexho Tip-Off Classic, Nov. 20-21 at Brougham Pavilion. The Falcons open the tournament against Dominican University at 7 p.m. in the nightcap of a doubleheader that Western Washington and Cal State Monterey Bay open at 3 p.m. The Northwest teams trade opponents the next night with SPU playing Monterey Bay, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m.
That is the first of three home tournaments for the Falcons, who also host four-team events on Dec. 4-5 and Dec. 29-30.
SPU was projected first in the preseason poll of GNAC coaches. The Falcons begin their 16-game conference slate on the road, Jan. 7 at Northwest Nazarene. The first league home game is Jan. 9 against Saint Martin’s.
The Falcons’ annual Homecoming game is scheduled for Jan. 30 at 3:30 p.m. against Alaska Fairbanks. That follows a 1:30 p.m. game between the SPU and Fairbanks women.
“We’re excited in regards to the opponents on our schedule,” Looney said. “We have a nice mix of opponents where we should have a great chance to be competitive and also some opponents that will challenge us as well.”
Seattle Pacific returns four starters and 12 lettermen from a team that posted a 19-10 record in 2008-09 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II tournament. The Falcons placed third in the GNAC with an 11-5 record. They were the league’s last surviving team in the postseason after eliminating champion Western Washington in the first round of the playoffs.
SPU was eliminated from the postseason by an 80-72 loss to national runner-up Cal Poly Pomona.
After the season, seven-year head coach Jeff Hironaka left SPU to become an assistant at Washington State. He joined the staff of first-year Cougars coach Ken Bone, who served as the head coach at SPU from 1991-2002 with Hironaka as his assistant.
The Falcons finished among the top-three in the league standings during each of the last five seasons, all of them capped by NCAA Tournament appearances.
“I’m excited to keep the tradition alive in our program and to continue to build upon that,” said Looney, who is the 11th coach in SPU men’s basketball history.
Looney led Eastern Oregon to the quarterfinals of the 2009 NAIA Division II Tournament. He also directed EOU into the 2008 NAIA Tournament, stopping the school’s postseason drought that dated to the 1950s. His Mountaineers won the 2008 Cascade Collegiate Conference championship, their first title in 38 years, and shared the conference crown in 2009.
Three of SPU’s returning players were conference all-stars. Junior point guard Chris Banchero (Seattle, Wash./O’Dea HS) was a second-team All-GNAC honoree after leading the team with 15.7 points per game. Senior post Rafael Moreira (Brasilia, Brazil) and senior wing Brandon Larrieu (Puyallup, Wash./Franklin Pierce HS) were honorable mention selections. Moreira averaged 11.8 points and 6.4 rebounds while Larrieu scored at a 14.6-point clip last year.
2009-10 Seattle Pacific Men’s Basketball Schedule
Nov. 6 Simon Fraser (exhibition) 7:00 pm
Nov. 14 Blue Angels (exhibition) 7:00 pm
Sodexo Tip-Off Classic (Nov. 20-21)
Nov. 20 Cal State Monterey Bay vs. Western Wash. 3:00 pm
Nov. 20 Dominican vs. SPU 7:00 pm
Nov. 21 Dominican vs. Western Wash. 3:00 pm
Nov. 21 Cal State Monterey Bay vs. SPU 7:00 pm
Chico State Tournament (Nov. 27-28)
Nov. 27 vs. Sonoma State 5:00 pm
Nov. 28 at Chico State 7:30 pm
SPU Tournament (Dec. 4-5)
Dec. 4 BYU Hawaii vs. Central Wash. 5:00 pm
Dec. 4 Carroll College vs. SPU 7:00 pm
Dec. 5 Carroll College vs. Central Wash. 5:00 pm
Dec. 5 BYU Hawaii vs. SPU 7:00 pm
Dec. 12 at Cal State East Bay 3:00 pm
Dec. 19 Grand Canyon 7:00 pm
Falcons Tournament (Dec. 29-30)
Dec. 29 Colorado Christian vs. Central Wash. 5:00 pm
Dec. 29 Academy of Art vs. SPU 7:00 pm
Dec. 30 Academy of Art vs. Central Wash. 5:00 pm
Dec. 30 Colorado Christian vs. SPU 7:00 pm
Jan. 2 at Grand Canyon 6:30 pm
Jan. 7 * at Northwest Nazarene 6:00 pm
Jan. 9 * Saint Martin’s 7:00 pm
Jan. 14 * at Western Oregon 7:30 pm
Jan. 21 * at Western Washington 7:00 pm
Jan. 23 * Montana State Billings 7:00 pm
Jan. 28 * Alaska Anchorage 7:30 pm
Jan. 30 * Alaska Fairbanks (Homecoming) 3:30 pm
Feb. 4 * at Central Washington 7:30 pm
Feb. 6 * Northwest Nazarene 4:00 pm
Feb. 11 * Western Oregon 7:00 pm
Feb. 18 * Western Washington 7:00 pm
Feb. 20 * at Montana State Billings 6:30 pm
Feb. 25 * Central Washington (Senior Night) 7:00 pm
Feb. 27 * at Saint Martin’s 7:00 pm
Mar. 4 * at Alaska Fairbanks 8:30 pm
Mar. 6 * at Alaska Anchorage 8:30 pm
Pacific Times are listed for all games
* Great Northwest Athletic Conference games
All home games played at Brougham Pavilion
(3414 Third Ave W., Seattle, WA 98119)