• 2010 West Regional Page
     • 2010 NCAA Tournament bracket (pdf)

SEATTLE -- Seattle Pacific drew the No. 3 seed in the West Region and will compete in its sixth straight NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament beginning Friday 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 (22-5) and Pacific West Conference co-champion BYU-Hawaii (20-5).

SPU defeated the then No. 1-ranked Seasiders 78-72 on Dec. 5 in Seattle behind the 20 points of junior Chris Banchero. BYU was 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 (Seattle, Wash./O'Dea HS), who was named the GNAC Player of the Year on Monday, did not participate in last year's NCAA tournament due to an injury.

The SPU-BYU 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 No. 1 seed 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. All three rounds will be played in Bellingham.

The eight regional champions advance to the Elite Eight, scheduled for Mar. 24, 25 and 27 in Springfield, Mass.

The Falcons won their NCAA opening-round game the last two seasons, including an 82-77 win over Western Washington last year in Bellingham.

Tickets for the West Regional are on sale now. They 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/senior/WWU faculty with ID are $5. Tickets are good all day on multiple-game dates.


2010 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.
Game 2 - (#2) Cal State San Bernardino vs. (#7) Humboldt State, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3 - (#4) Cal Poly Pomona vs. (#5) Dixie State, 5:30 p.m.
Game 4 - (#1) Western Washington vs. (#8) Central Washington, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 13
Game 5 - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 5:00 p.m.
Game 6 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7:00 p.m.

Monday, March 15
Game 7 - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 7:00 p.m.