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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6 --
Seattle Pacific vs. Simon Fraser (exhibition)
7:00 p.m., Brougham Pavilion; Seattle, Wash.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14 --
Seattle Pacific vs. Blue Angels (exhibition)
7:00 p.m., Brougham Pavilion; Seattle, Wash.
“I’m excited about it. Excited to keep the tradition alive in our program and to continue to build upon that. It’s exciting to take over a group where there are 12 returning players.”
—Coach Ryan Looney on the start of his first season at SPU
First-year coach Ryan Looney makes his inaugural appearance on the Brougham Pavilion sidelines on Friday in the first of two exhibition games, both at home. His Seattle Pacific men’s basketball team entertains Canadian power Simon Fraser, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion on the SPU campus. 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. On Nov. 14 at 7 p.m., the Falcons play an exhibition against the Blue Angels, a team comprised of former collegiate standouts.
Live Game Coverage
LiveStats and a free webcast will be available for all SPU men’s basketball home games. The webcast can be accessed at:
www.PennAtlantic.com and the LiveStats are located at
www.sidearmstats.com/spu/mbball
Five-Year Run
The Falcons registered a 104-43 record over the last five seasons, more victories than any GNAC team during that span. SPU compiled a 20-9 record in 2005, 26-6 in 2006, 18-10 in 2007, 21-8 in 2008 and 19-10 last season. The 104 combined wins are the second-highest five-year total in school history, topped only by a 113-win run from 1998 to 2002. The Falcons competed in five straight NCAA Tournaments (2005-09), advancing to the national semifinals in 2006.
2010 Preview
Four starters and 12 lettermen return for Seattle Pacific, which posted a 19-10 record last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Falcons were picked first in the GNAC coaches poll. Heading the list of returnees is a trio of conference all-stars. Junior point guard Chris Banchero was a second-team All-GNAC honoree after leading the team with 15.7 points per game. Senior post Rafael Moreira and senior wing Brandon Larrieu were honorable mention selections. Moreira averaged 11.8 points and 6.4 rebounds while Larrieu scored at a 14.6-point clip last year. The biggest task will be replacing starting forward Casey Reed, a second-team All-GNAC selection. The roster is bolstered by the addition of 6-7 junior post Ryan Sweet (Port Orchard, Wash./Whatcom CC) and 6-7 freshman wing Scott Morse (Central Point, Ore).
Ticket Talk
Season tickets for SPU men’s basketball games are currently available. They are a tremendous value and assure a seat in the best location for every home game. Season tickets can be obtained by calling 206-281-2085. Individual game tickets for SPU men’s basketball games can be purchased at Brougham Pavilion (3414 Third Ave. W., Seattle 98119) on game day. Ticket windows open one hour prior to the listed start time. Reserved seats for Falcon men’s basketball are $8 for center court locations and $7 for other sideline areas. General admission tickets are priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special general admission rates by calling (206) 281-2085 at least 72 hours in advance.
Exhibition Games
Seattle Pacific has an 11-11 record in exhibition games, but just three of the wins were against collegiate competition. The Falcons defeated NCAA Division I foe Murray State 76-68 in 2006-07 and Canadian colleges Simon Fraser (79-58 in 2000-01) and British Columbia (107-70 in 1984-85). SPU aggressively scheduled 11 Division I opponents for exhibitions the last five years.
The Simon Fraser Series
> Located in Burnaby, B.C., Simon Fraser has been the first college from outside the United States to become a member of the NCAA. The Clan will compete in Division II next year as a member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
> SPU won all three previous meetings vs. Simon Fraser, two of them at home.
> The most recent meeting was a 79-58 exhibition win on Nov. 18, 2000 in Seattle. The Falcons won 94-82 in Burnaby and 60-51 in Seattle during the 1998-99 season.
The Blue Angels Series
> The Blue Angels are a team comprised of former Northwest college standouts.
> SPU has a 3-0 record vs. the Blue Angeles and they last met on Nov. 15, 2003.
2009 Review
First-year Seattle Pacific coach Ryan Looney inherits 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 Great Northwest Athletic Conference 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 advanced to the regional semifinal round before losing 80-72 to eventual national runner-up Cal Poly Pomona. Just one letterman, senior forward Casey Reed, departed from last year’s team.
Coaches Poll
Seattle Pacific was projected to win the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title by the annual coaches poll released Oct. 28. Despite having won three GNAC championships, this is the first time the Falcons have been selected atop the conference poll. They captured the 2006 league title and were co-champions in 2002 and 2007. SPU received four first-place votes en route to its 76-point total. Last year’s GNAC champion Western Washington was picked second in the poll. The Vikings tallied 72 points and also had four votes for the top spot. Central Washington, last season’s runner-up, picked up the other first-place vote to finish third with 59 points. Alaska Anchorage was slotted fourth in the balloting, followed by Montana State Billings, Northwest Nazarene, Alaska Fairbanks, Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon.
Coach Looney
Ryan Looney, who led Eastern Oregon University to the quarterfinals of the 2009 NAIA Division II Tournament, was hired May 26, 2009 as the men’s basketball coach at Seattle Pacific. Looney, 33, compiled a 95-55 record in five seasons with Eastern Oregon. His Mountaineers won 63.3 percent of their games, the best winning percentage among all-time EOU coaches. Looney directed EOU to back-to-back NAIA Tournament appearances in 2008 and 2009, 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. The 2009 EOU squad registered a 25-8 record, including 14 consecutive victories, before suffering an 80-79 NAIA quarterfinal setback against No. 1-ranked and eventual national champion Oklahoma Wesleyan. Looney is the 11th head coach for the SPU program that began sponsoring intercollegiate men’s basketball in 1946. He replaced Jeff Hironaka, who left after 18 years on the Falcons staff, the last seven as the head coach, to become an assistant coach at Washington State. Looney was hired as Eastern Oregon’s head coach in May of 2004. He served the previous two seasons as the top assistant at NCAA Division II Minnesota State University Moorhead, helping the team to a 33-24 record and a berth in the finals of the 2002 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament. He played collegiately at Eastern Oregon from 1996-98, averaging 7.2 points in 53 career games. An NAIA All-America scholar athlete, Looney still holds the school’s career free throw accuracy record at 89.5 percent. After graduating in 1998 from EOU, Looney got his first head coaching job in 1998-99 at Cove High School. After working two seasons as an assistant at Wisconsin-LaCrosse, where he received his Master of Science degree in sports administration in 2001, Looney joined the staff at North Idaho College for the 2001-02 season.
The Schedule
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. 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 host four-team events Dec. 4-5 and Dec. 29-30.