|
This week...
Sat., Mar. 3, 7 p.m. -- MEN'S BASKETBALL v WESTERN WASHINGTON,
Brougham Pavilion, Seattle, Wa. Sun., Mar. 4, 5 p.m. -- NCAA
TOURNAMENT SELECTION
Complete
2000 Schedule
Once more, with feeling...
Although they scrapped the postseason tournament, the Pacific West
Conference race will still be determined in a season-ending
championship game. On the eve of the NCAA Division II men's
basketball tournament selections, 22nd-ranked Seattle Pacific
University (14-3, 21-4) and its nine-game win streak will
collide with No. 15 Western Washington (15-2, 23-3) and its
10-game run of success Saturday night (Mar. 3) in Brougham
Pavilion. Postseason berths will be awarded the following day with
the West Regional tournament Mar. 8-10 to be hosted by the
region's top seed.
Winner take all...
To the victor of Saturday's game goes the PacWest's automatic
berth in the NCAA tournament. The Falcons, the defending champion
and preseason favorite, would finish with an identical conference
record, but would be the West Division winner by virtue of the
tiebreaker, head-to-head records vs. opponents in descending order
of finish. SPU swept third-place Central Washington while the
Vikings split. The conference title goes to the division champion
with the higher power rating, and either SPU or Western will
finish above Alaska Anchorage, the Pacific Division winner.
NCAA playoff picture...
Whatever happens, both teams are assured of moving on to the NCAA
regional. Seattle Pacific is entrenched at No. 3 in the West. Cal
State San Bernardino and Western Washington were ranked Nos. 1 and
2 last week, but the Coyotes suffered a loss, opening the door for
the Vikings to possibly move in front. The PacWest will likely
send four teams to the playoffs. Cal State Bakersfield was No. 4
last week, followed by Humboldt State and Anchorage. Central
Washington shold move up to at least No. 7 this week. Six teams
will receive NCAA invitations Mar. 4.
Ticket information...
Reserved seating for all home games is priced $7 and $6. General
admission tickets are $5 with students and senior citizens $3.
Group rates are available by calling (206) 281-2085 in advance.
Pavilion ticket windows will open at 4 p.m. Saturday.
On fire in February...
If the PacWest gave an award for player of the month, a strong
arguement could be made for forward John Hubbard (Sr.,
6-5, Inglewood, Ca./Grays Harbor CC). Already on fire in February,
Hubbard closed out the month with two dazzling offensive displays
in wins over Humboldt State and Western Oregon last week. He
carried the Falcons for most of the way against the Lumberjacks,
scoring a career-high 37 points while hitting 12 of 21 from the
field, including four 3-pointers. While the rest of team
experienced a sluggish start versus the Wolves, Hubbard came out
on fire, hitting 8 of his first 11 field goals and scoring all 20
of his points in the first period. For the eight games in
February, Hubbard averaged 21.6 points, shot 53 percent from the
floor, 39 percent on treys and 78 percent at the foul line.
Nick at night...
Another starter who lifted his game last week was guard Nick
Johnson (Jr., 6-3, Burlington, Wa./Burlington-Edison), who had
18 and 20 points, repsectively. His most memorable plays occurred
when SPU went on a 13-1 run to pull away from Western Oregon in
the second half. Two signature drives started the momentum and a
wide-open trey from the left side sealed it. He was 8 for 12 from
the floor and also hauled down nine rebounds. Johnson is now the
team's No. 3 scorer (13.6) and leads the conference in 3-point
accuracy (54 percent, 31-57).
Quality time from Keely...
And the award for best supporting role by a player coming off the
bench during February goes to Jesse Keely (So., 6-7,
Fircrest, Wa./Bellarmine-Portland). Now the first choice for a
frontline substitution, Keely is earning more and more minutes by
playing smart and snagging lots of rebounds. He pulled down 12
missed shots and scored eight points vs. Humboldt State, and had
another eight boards vs. Western Oregon. In the last six games
Keely is averaging 6.7 points and 6.5 boards in 15.8 minutes.
Home sweet Brougham...
The Falcons are not invincible when playing at Brougham Pavilion,
but it's darn close. Wins last week pushed the team's home
conference record to 57-2 (97 percent success rate) over the past
nine seasons and 11-1 this year. Coach Ken Bone's teams
have a record of 148-13 at home in his 10-plus seasons.
Senior night with the ball...
Bone has just two seniors on his squad and both will be recognized
before Saturday's tip-off. Hubbard made the all-conference team as
a sixth man a year ago, and currently is seventh in conference
scoring (19.0). with 476 points, he has a chance to surpass Bob
Burrows (523) at No. 10 in the school's season scoring list. Darrell
Walker (Sr., 6-0, Marysville, Wa./M'ville-Pilchuck-EWU) has
had a relatively short stay, having transferred just this season.
Walker has virtually split the point guard responsibilities with
Aaron Bellessa (So., 6-2, Federal Way, Wa./Decatur), and
is No. 2 on the team in assists (3.3) and steals (1.3).
Put-backs...
Brannon Stone (Jr., 6-9, Oak Harbor, Wa.) needs five
rebounds to supplant Jeff Case (1974-78) at No. 7 on career list.
He is seven steals from moving past Ritchie McKay (1985-87) for
No. 2...Stone and Johnson have organized a free basketball clinic
Sunday (Mar. 4) from 2-4 p.m. in the pavilion for boys in grades
3-6...After a huge week vs. Saint Martin's and Central, Stone
cooled to just 3-17 from the floor last week. He did hit the
go-ahead 3-pointer in OT vs. Humboldt State and scored eight of
his 10 points in the extra period...Hubbard's 37 points ties for
No. 9 on the all-time single game list, and it was the most by a
Falcon since Jeff McBroom had the same total in 1999 vs. St.
Martin's...Gene Woodard (So., 6-4, Edmonds, Wa./O'Dea)
grabbed four rebounds, all the offensive end, and scored eight
points vs. WOU...The current win streak is the longest of the
season. Last year the Falcons twice won 10 in a row...SPU held
Western Oregon to just 17 field goals and 30 percent shooting...By
beating Western they would also avert a season series sweep for
the second year in a row...Stone is No. 2 in conference blocks
(1.9), No. 4 in steals (1.8) and No. 9 in free throw accuracy
(.829). He also leads the team in assists (3.5) and is No. 2 in
scoring 14.8) and rebounding (6.3)...SPU leads the PacWest in
3-point percentage (.409), scoring defense (72.5) and is second in
rebounding (+4.0), field-goal percentage defense (.425) and third
in offensive field-goal percentage (.493).
Series, opponent notes...
Western Washington, which departed the NAIA ranks two years ago,
will be making its first NCAA tournament appearance next week. The
Vikings opened conference play by coming from behind to edge the
Falcons 99-93 in Bellingham Nov. 30. SPU led by as much as 15 in
the first half and by seven with just under 10 minutes remaining.
Then Shelton Diggs ignited a 17-4 run which put Western in
control. Diggs finished with 23 points and Jacob Stevenson 21.
Hubbard had 24 and Eric Sandrin (Jr., 6-10, Bothell,
Wa./Shorecrest-Portland) 22...Under Bone, Seattle Pacific is 19-3
vs. Western, including a record of 9-1 at Brougham. The series
stands in favor of SPU, 58-36...SPU is 11-0 when holding an
opponent to under 40 percent shooting and 15-0 when it holds a
rebonding edge...Western leads the Pacwest in field goal
percentage (.505) and rebounding margin (+5.1).
S-P-U on the W-E-B...
You can follow Seattle Pacific via the world wide web. The
Falcons Online features weekly releases, rosters, schedules,
updated results, histories and coaching profiles for all 12
varsity sports. You're already here!
PacWest
Conference Standings
Personnel notes...
No Player Yr-Exp Hgt '00-01 stats Hometown Notes
4 Abe Fox Jr-2V 6-8 2.1/1.6 reb Port Townsend, Wa. Averaging 9.4
minutes; 12 pts v Linfield
10 Adam Harris So-1V 6-0 3.5/0.8 ast Fox Island, Wa. Gig Harbor
grad 53% (14-31) 3-pointers
11 Aaron Bellessa* So-1V 6-2 2.2/2.8 ast Federal Way, Wa. Starter
at point guard; 19-41 FG
20 Darrell Walker Sr-TR 6-0 6.1/3.3 ast Marysville, Wa. 26-64
3-pointers, 41%; 1.3 steals
21 Brannon Stone* Jr-2V 6-7 14.8/6.3 reb Oak Harbor, Wa. 47 3ptrs;
2.0 blks, 1.8 stls; 83% FT
22 Jesse Keely So-TR 6-7 2.8/2.8 reb Fircrest, Wa. 12 reb. v HSU;
18-39 FG; 81% FT
23 Nick Johnson* Jr-2V 6-3 13.1/4.5 reb Burlington, Wa. Career-hi
24 pts v Tarleton St.; 56% 3-ptrs
30 Gene Woodard So-1V 6-4 4.5/2.1 reb Edmonds, Wa. Career-high 20
pts at Linfield; 56% FG
32 John Hubbard* Sr-1V 6-5 18.2/3.1 reb Inglewood, Ca. 56-151
3-ptrs (37%); 79% FT
34 Eric Sandrin* Jr-TR 6-10 13.3/6.4 reb Bothell, Wa. 56% FG, 0.8
blks; 11-30 3-ptrs
40 Daniel Sandrin So-TR 6-7 3.2/2.8 reb Bothell, Wa. Averaging
12.5 minutes; 5-7 3 ptrs
42 Chris Cohen Fr-RS 6-8 0.7/0.8 reb Saint Helens, Or. Played in
15 games; 4-8 FG
*projected starter Coach: Ken Bone (SPU '83) 11th year
(229-90/.718) |
