Homecoming greets longtime rivals. Tradition is the theme for 10th-ranked Seattle Pacific University this week as alumni descend upon the campus for homecoming while the Falcons face two of their most long-standing rivals before hitting the road. Tied atop the league standings, SPU (8-1, 16-2) takes a 10-game home win streak into Thursday night's (Jan. 31) tilt with resurgent Saint Martin's (5-4, 7-10), an age-old foe. Then Saturday afternoon (Feb. 2) a capacity crowd figures to be on hand as Seattle Pacific renews one of its most intense rivalries with Central Washington (3-6, 10-7). After that, the next five Great Northwest Athletic Conference games are on the road, beginning Feb. 7 at Seattle University.

Alums like Bone. Ken Bone's the first SPU graduate to ever coach the Falcons and he's treated his fellow alums to 11 consecutive wins in the annual homecoming game. Overall, his teams are 158-15 at home during his tenure, including wins in 28 of the last 30 home conference games. Last week Bone earned his 250th career victory, and he's the most successful mentor in the school's history in terms of winning percentage (.721) and NCAA tournament appearances (seven, all in the last eight years).

Still in good shape. They left town on a winning streak and returned on one. But in between came the Falcons' first loss in nearly 10 weeks, 84-78 at Humboldt State. It halted a record 15-game win streak but by bouncing back with a 73-57 win at Western Oregon, Seattle Pacific is still in good shape as far as the conference and playoffs are concerned. Halfway through the league season, it is tied with Humboldt for first in the GNAC and probably will fall no further than No. 3 in the West Region later this week. Cal State San Bernardino is both No. 1 in the West and the nation with a record of 17-0. The region's top six teams qualify for the Division II tournament in March.

Repeat performances? Beginning this week, the GNAC schedule turns over with SPU facing each opponent for the second time. If the upcoming games in any way resemble the Falcons' first meetings with Central and Saint Martin's back in December, then look for two completely different scripts. At Ellensburg, the two teams combined for 201 points and it came down to a pair of free throws in the final 2 seconds of the second overtime. Two nights later in Lacey, the defense stifled the Saints in a 73-46 win. It was the fewest points allowed by Seattle Pacific in 71 games. Whether it's been the offense or the defense, fans this season have watched only three competitive (less than 16 points difference) games in Brougham Pavilion; the average scoring margin has been 19.5.

Go to Yuey. Whereas some players wear down as the season progresses, Yusef Aziz (Sr., 6-4, Seattle, Wa./Foster-Highline CC) seems to be gathering steam. Aziz, who's been on a tear since mid-December, is coming off his strongest week. He totaled 47 points and 15 rebounds on the trip south, and helped SPU pull away from Western Oregon by scoring 17 of his season-high 25 points in the second half. Aziz, who has scored 14 or more points and averaged 19.2 in the last 11 games (dating back to eight points in the first Saint Martin's meeting), is the top contender for GNAC newcomer of the year. His Charles Barkley-esque, inside-outside game of power and quickness has translated into a season average of 16.9 points while taking just over 10 shots per game. Aziz has converted 60 percent of his field goals and last week sank 20 of 22 free throws.

Win-win situation. Already approaching 20 wins at the end of January, it seems almost certain that SPU is postseason-bound for the fifth year in a row. And two of the squad's three graduating seniors are assured of winning more games during their careers than any of the 370 ballplayers who've gone before them. Nick Johnson (Sr., 6-3, Burlington, Wa./Burlington-Edison) and Brannon Stone (Sr., 6-9, Oak Harbor, Wa.) have been involved in 87 wins to date. Johnson, who had 23 points (11-14 FGs) at Humboldt, is in his second season as a starting guard and is the team's No. 2 scorer (13.1) and perhaps No. 1 individual defender. Stone, a four-year starter, has led the Falcons in assists, rebounds and blocks the past three years. He is the school's career leader in blocks (252) and ranks No. 2 in steals, No. 4 in rebounds and No. 7 in scoring. He's likely the career leader in minutes, having averaged over 29 per game.

Put-backs. Seattle Pacific and Humboldt State exchanged positions in this week's national rankings. SPU has been amongst the top 10 for four consecutive weeks. Henderson State (Ark.), which the Falcons defeated in mid-December, is back to No. 7...The Falcons are 14-0 when leading at halftime and 8-0 when opponents shoot less than 40 percent. They have had fewer turnovers in 14 games and more rebounds in 15 of 17. Central out-rebounded SPU by 10 in the first game...Strangely, Seattle Pacific hit a season-best 92 percent from the foul line (24-26) at Humboldt but a season-low 13 percent on its 3-pointers (2-15)...Adam Harris (Jr., 6-0, Fox Island, Wa./Gig Harbor) came off the bench for a season-high eight points at WOU, including two treys...Maurice Cato (Jr., 6-0, Fairfield, Ca.) scored a season-high 28 in the earlier win over Central, including the decisive two free throws...Seattle Pacific leads the conference in scoring defense (65.4), field-goal percentage defense (.407), offensive field-goal percentage (.492) and scoring margin (+15.9) and is second in rebounding margin (+6.2) and steals (8.9)...Aziz is second among GNAC leaders in steals (1.89), third in field goal percentage and eighth in scoring. Johnson is second in free throw accuracy (.887). Sixth man Daniel Sandrin (Jr., 6-7, Bothell, Wa./Bothell-Portland) is fourth in field-goal percentage (.588) and Stone is fifth in assists (4.3).

Opponent & series notes. This is the 103rd renewal of the Saint Martin's series, the lengthiest of all for SPU. Seattle Pacific has won six meetings in a row, 17 of the last 18 and leads the series 71-31. Gerrit Eades is averaging 16.4 points and 8.4 boards for the resurgent Saints, who have won five of six and are coming off a surprising road win at Ellensburg...Central Washington has been unpredictable, handing Humboldt State its only loss but going only 4-3 at home and losing four of the last six overall. Justin Thompson (20.4) is the GNAC's No. 2 scorer and Terry Thompson (17.2) is No. 7. Central leads the league in steals (10.2). The Falcons trail the series 58-32 but they have an edge of 12-10 under Bone, including wins in four of the last five meetings. The sole setback was in the first round of the 2001 NCAA playoffs, 101-95 in overtime.