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NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
West Regional • Carver Gymnasium • Bellingham, Wash.
FRIDAY, MARCH 12 --
Game 1 -- (#3) Seattle Pacific vs. (#6) BYU-Hawaii, 12:30 p.m. PT
Game 2 -- (#2) CSU San Bernardino vs. (#7) Humboldt State, 2:30 p.m. PT
Game 3 -- (#4) Cal Poly Pomona vs. (#5) Dixie State, 5:30 p.m. PT
Game 4 -- (#1) Western Washington vs. (#8) Central Washington, 7:30 p.m. PT
SATURDAY, MARCH 13 --
Game 5 -- Semifinal -- Winner Game #1 vs. Winner Game #2, 5:00 p.m. PT
Game 6 -- Semifinal -- Winner Game #3 vs. Winner Game #4, 7:00 p.m. PT
MONDAY, MARCH 15 --
West Region Championship -- Winner Game #5 vs. Winner Game #6, 7:00 p.m.
The 18th-ranked Seattle Pacific Falcons (22-5) are the No. 3 seed in the West Region and will compete in their sixth straight NCAA Division II men’s basketball tournament beginning on Friday, Mar. 12 with a rematch against No. 6 seed BYU-Hawaii in Bellingham, Wash. The Falcons’ first-round playoff game tips off at 12:30 p.m. at Carver Gymnasium, the home arena of West Region top seed Western Washington. The game features a clash of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference titlist Falcons and Pacific West Conference co-champion BYU-Hawaii (20-5). The SPU-BYUH winner plays against the victor of Friday’s 2:30 p.m. game between No. 2 seed Cal State San Bernardino (22-7) and No. 7 Humboldt State (22-7). That West Region semifinal clash is set for Saturday, Mar. 13 at 5 p.m. The other half of the bracket has top seed and 15th-ranked Western Washington (25-5) hosting No. 8 Central Washington (16-10) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, following a 5:30 p.m. encounter between No. 4 Cal Poly Pomona (22-6) and No. 5 Dixie State (20-5). The West Region championship game is slated for Monday, Mar. 15 at 7 p.m. All three rounds will be played in Bellingham. The regional champion advances to the Elite Eight, scheduled for Mar. 24, 25 and 27 in Springfield, Mass.
Live Coverage
All of SPU’s NCAA Tournament games in Bellingham can be viewed live via webcast at:
www.PennAtlantic.com LiveStats are also available and can be accessed on the Western Washington athletics website at:
www.WWUvikings.com
We Meet Again
SPU defeated then No. 1-ranked BYU-Hawaii 78-72 on Dec. 5 in Seattle behind the 20 points of junior Chris Banchero. The Seasiders were without the services of 6-foot-9 center Lucas Alves in that game. The 2009 national player of the year, Alves missed this season’s first eight games with an injury. BYU’s current leading scorer, Tsung-Hsien Chang, also missed significant time with an injury. The Seasiders are now healthy and bring a 13-game winning streak into the playoffs. SPU will be without its 6-foot-9 post player in the rematch as Rafael Moreira has been out since Jan. 22 with a knee injury. He had 12 points and four rebounds in the first meeting with BYU-Hawaii. This marks the second straight season the Falcons will not be at full strength during the postseason. Banchero, who was named the GNAC Player of the Year on Monday, did not participate in last year’s playoffs due to a wrist injury.
Ticket Talk
Tickets for the West Regional can be purchased by calling the Western Washington ticket office at 360-650-2583 or by going on-line at
www.wwuvikings.com. Reserved tickets are $10, general admission is $8 and student/youth/seniors are $5.
SPU in the NCAAs
The Falcons are participating in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight season and the 14th time in the last 17 seasons ... SPU won at least one game in 16 of its 20 previous NCAA playoff appearances ... The Falcons have a 24-20 all-time record in the NCAA playoffs ... SPU advanced to the national semifinals in 2000 and again in 2006 ... Last year, the Falcons opened the playoffs in Bellingham, Wash. with an 82-77 win over host Western Washington before losing 80-72 to eventual national runner-up Cal Poly Pomona in the second round.
We are the Champions
SPU captured the 2010 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship, it’s third title in the last five years and the fourth since the GNAC was formed in 2001-02. The Falcons, whose only other outright championship came in 2006, shared the 2002 and 2007 league crowns.
Scouting BYU-Hawaii (20-5, No. 6 seed West Region)
> The Seasiders’ 14-2 conference record tied Dixie State for the Pacific West title.
> BYU-Hawaii leads all NCAA Division II teams in field goal accuracy at 52.5 percent (775 of 1485). SPU ranks third nationally at 51.5 percent (758 of 1473).
> The Seasiders bring a 13-game winning streak into the playoffs.
> The Falcons won all seven meetings in the series. SPU beat the Seasiders 78-72 on Dec. 5, 2009 in Seattle during the most recent meeting.
> In his first season at SPU, Ryan Looney has a 1-0 record against the Seasiders.
Quoting SPU Coach Ryan Looney
“We do have to travel, but don’t necessarily have to travel too far and that’s a good thing. Having a number of guys who have experience in the postseason should help. We just need to regain our focus and understand what got us to the point where we were able to win a conference championship. BYU-Hawaii is as talented as anyone we have played so far. We’re going to have to make sure that we are disciplined in all areas of the game to get it done. When we played them the first time they were really guard oriented. Their point guard Virgil Buensuceso and their wing Jet (Tsung-Hsien) Chang got a lot done for them. They are a little bit different now because they have (Lucas) Alves the big fellow back and there are a lot of possessions where they’re trying to dump it in to him. So, it’s changed the makeup of their team and in all reality probably makes them a lot better.”
1,000-Point Club
On Feb. 20, senior Brandon Larrieu became the 29th 1,000-point scorer in SPU history. He was joined the next game, on Feb. 25, by No. 30 junior Chris Banchero. Larrieu currently ranks 21st among all-time SPU scorers with 1,074 points and Banchero has 1,059 point to rank 24th. Loren Anderson is the all-time school scoring leader with 1.948 points from 1955-58.
Notable
Ryan Looney is the first coach to win a conference title in his inaugural season at SPU and also the only first-year coach to direct the Falcons into the postseason ... SPU has a 20-0 record when posting a higher field goal percentage than its opponent ... The Falcons have reached the 22-win plateau for the ninth time in school history. The SPU record of 27 victories was set in 2000 ... SPU’s 6-foot-9 senior post Rafael Moreira missed the last 12 games and is out for the season after undergoing knee surgery.
Brilliant Banchero
Junior Chris Banchero was named the GNAC Player of the Year on Mar. 8. He posted double-figure points in all but three games this season. Banchero led all SPU scorers 17 times and reached the 20-point plateau on 15 occasions. He poured in 33 points against Alaska Anchorage (Jan. 28) and then a career-high 34 against Central Washington (Feb. 25). Banchero is averaging 19.5 points to rank No. 2 in the conference. He led all GNAC scorers during league games with 21.1 points per game. Banchero twice hit game-winning shots; Jan. 14 at Western Oregon and Feb. 20 at Montana State Billings.
Magnificent Marksmen
Six players are shooting 50 percent for the Falcons, who combine to hit shots at a conference-leading 51.5-percent clip. SPU currently ranks No. 3 nationally (BYU Hawaii is No. 1 at 52.5%) after finishing the 2009 campaign as the nation’s second-best shooting squad at 51.8 percent. The Falcons shot at or above 50 percent 17 times this year, topped by a 66-percent effort against Carroll College on Dec. 4. They won 14 of 15 games when they surpassed the 50-percent plateau. The SPU men are undefeated in 20 games when their field goal percentage is superior to opponents. Rafael Moreira leads the Falcons, shooting at a 60.2-percent clip. Also at 50 percent for SPU are Jake Anderson (57.4%), Ryan Sweet (55.4%), Chris Banchero (52.7%), Rob Diederichs (50.6%) and Adam Wardell (50.0%). Jeff Downs leads SPU with 48 treys on 44.4% shooting.
Sweet Success
Junior Ryan Sweet made an immediate impact at SPU after transferring from Whatcom (Wash.) Community College. He leads the Falcons with 215 rebounds (8.0 rpg), grabbing 91 more than any of his teammates. Sweet has seven double-doubles and posted career bests with 20 points and 12 rebounds against Western Oregon (Feb. 11). He pulled down double-digit rebounds in eight of the last 10 games.
Unselfish Falcons
SPU ranks No. 8 nationally with 18.2 assists per game. That’s the primary reason that the Falcons rank third in field goal percentage at 51.5 percent. Senior wing Rob Diederichs leads the GNAC and ranks No. 11 nationally with an average of 6.2 assists per game. A capable scorer who erupted for 36 points in a Nov. 5, 2007 exhibition at Washington, Diederichs was encouraged before the season by Coach Ryan Looney to take on the distributor role. He led all Falcons in assists 18 times, including five double-figure efforts. On Feb. 25 against Central Washington, Diederichs distributed 19 assisted to eclipse the GNAC (18) and school (14) single-game records.
2009 Review
First-year SPU coach Ryan Looney inherited a team that posted a 19-10 record in 2009 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. 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. SPU advanced to the regional semifinal before losing 80-72 to eventual national runner-up Cal Poly Pomona. Just one letterman, senior forward Casey Reed, and coach Jeff Hironaka departed from last year’s team. Four starters return, including second-team All-GNAC pick Chris Banchero along with honorable mention selections Brandon Larrieu and Rafael Moreira.
Looney’s Ledger
Ryan Looney led Seattle Pacific to a 22-5 record and became the first coach to direct the Falcons to a conference championship in his inaugural season. Looney, who led his alma mater Eastern Oregon University to the quarterfinals of the 2009 NAIA Division II Tournament, was hired May 26, 2009 as the coach at SPU. He won his opening nine games on the SPU sidelines, the first coach to win more than his first three for the Falcons. Looney, 34, has a 117-60 (.661) career record and won his 100th game on Dec. 4 against Carroll College. He is the first coach to guide the Falcons into the playoffs in his inaugural season. Looney compiled a 95-55 record in five seasons with Eastern Oregon and directed EOU to back-to-back NAIA Tournament appearances in 2008 and 2009.
Five-Year Run
The Falcons registered a 104-43 record over the previous five seasons, more victories than any Great Northwest Athletic Conference 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 have competed in five straight NCAA Tournaments (2005-09), advancing to the national semifinals in 2006.