Going away for awhile. Whereas January was a great month for their hometown fans, February will prove to be good business for the Falcons' travel agent. Seattle Pacific University's 8th-ranked men's basketball team begins a parade to five straight road games with a quick trip across town before switching to planes for three of the next four. Still tied atop the league standings, SPU (10-1, 18-2) visits Seattle University (2-10, 3-18) Thursday night (Feb. 7) and then crosses into Idaho Saturday (Feb. 9) to face Northwest Nazarene (5-7, 7-12). There's only one Great Northwest Athletic Conference game next week: Feb. 16 at Western Washington.

20-20-20-20 foresight. Coach Ken Bone has got his team off to the best start in school history and an unprecedented fourth straight 20-win season is within reach this week­with three weeks to spare in the regular season. This year's team is beginning to draw comparisons with the Final Four squad of 2000. Offensively it's not as explosive yet it's vastly superior on defense. The Falcons have held each of the last three opponents under 60 points; no SPU team has strung together four such games since the advent of the shot clock. In 1964-65 Seattle Pacific allowed under 60 for six consecutive games. Barring an unforeseen calamity, Bone has the program progressing toward its eighth trip to the NCAA Division II tournament in the last nine years.

Poll watching. SPU improved its lot with a pair of convincing home wins last week, beating Saint Martin's 74-59 and Central Washington 84-59 in the homecoming game. It may not be enough to improve its regional rating but it was sufficient to climb two spot in the rankings. The Falcons matched their season-best poll position at No. 8 this week, just behind GNAC co-leader Humboldt State. Cal State San Bernardino, suffering its first defeat, slid from No. 1 nationally but will likely retain the top position in the West Region. The region's top six teams qualify for the Division II tournament in March.

More Mo Cato. With the flick of a wrist, Maurice Cato (Jr., 6-0, Fairfield, Ca./Fairfield-Skyline JC) can turn a game on a dime. Defensively, the quick feet and hands of Cato helped harass opposing guards into 24 turnovers last week (five directly from Cato steals). Offensively, his quick-release from the top of the key translated into six 3-pointers (in nine attempts) and stretched zones beyond their limits. Cato scored 19 and 16 points, respectively, and had seven assists to earn GNAC co-player of the week for the second time this season. Incidentally, it was his performances against Saint Martin's and Central which earned the honor in December. He is the team's No. 3 scorer (10.6) and second in assists (3.1), free throw (.820) and 3-point (.363) accuracy.

Near miss. With over eight minutes still showing on the clock versus Central, Brannon Stone (Sr., 6-9, Oak Harbor, Wa.) probably had his best shot yet at the school's historic first triple-double. As it was, the capacity crowd of nearly 2,700 settled for another uncommon occurrence: an unmistakable smile on Stone's face. A combination of Stone's outside shooting (three treys, 14 points) and dominance on the defensive boards (career-high 16 rebounds) helped SPU beat the Wildcats for the fifth time in the last six meetings. His eight assists tied a career-best. Stone also had a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) against the Saints. He needs six more points to move into No. 6 on the school's career scoring list. This season Stone leads the team in assists (4.6), rebounds (5.9) and blocked shots (1.25) and is No. 4 in scoring (10.1).

Yuey's flip side. Following a three-game stretch in which he overpowered foes inside, Yusef Aziz (Sr., 6-4, Seattle, Wa./Foster-Highline CC) took a few steps back against Central Washington, but proved to be just as dangerous. Aziz swished a season-high three treys over the Wildcats, a statistic which will only further confound future scouting reports. Before that perimeter performance, Aziz had scored 62 points in the previous three outings, including 27 of 33 free throw attempts. He remains a frontrunner for conference newcomer of the year, leading SPU with a 16.8 scoring average and hitting 59 percent of his field goals. Now a qualifier for 3-point leaders, he's 10th in the GNAC, hitting 41 percent (14 of 34) outside the arc.

Put-backs. Eric Sandrin (Sr., 6-10, Bothell, Wa./Shorecrest) bounced back from a three-game slump to convert 5-6 field goals, score 11 points and pass for three assists vs. Central...In the last three games, opponents have shot a combined 36 percent from the field and averaged 58.3 points...The Falcons are 16-0 when leading at halftime and 9-0 when opponents shoot less than 40 percent. They have had fewer turnovers in 16 games and more rebounds in 17 of 19...The team hit a season-best 16 of 17 free throws vs. CWU...Jordan Lee (Fr., 6-0, University Place, Wa./Life Christian) came off the bench for seven points­all in the first half­vs. Central, hitting all three of his shots...Seattle Pacific leads the conference in scoring defense (64.8), field-goal percentage defense (.404), 3-point defense (.335), offensive field-goal percentage (.491), free throw percentage (.765) and scoring margin (+16.3) and is second in rebounding margin (+5.7) and steals (9.2)...Aziz is fifth among GNAC leaders in field goal percentage (.587), sixth in steals (1.70) and ninth in scoring. Nick Johnson (Sr., 6-3, Burlington, Wa./Burlington-Edison) is third in free throw accuracy (.879). Sixth man Daniel Sandrin (Jr., 6-7, Bothell, Wa./Bothell-Portland) is seventh in field-goal percentage (.571). Stone is fifth in assists, seventh in blocks and 10th in steals (1.55).

Opponent & series notes. SPU has beaten Seattle U. 11 consecutive times since 1995, including a 64-49 nonconference win at Connolly Center Nov. 24 and a 72-67 conference win at the pavilion Jan. 5. The Redhawks, the No. 2 defensive team in the GNAC, have lost five straight and 13 of 14 but six of those losses have been by six points or less...Northwest Nazarene has lost five straight to SPU but is returning home after winning three of its last five, all on the road. The Crusaders' Kevin Richards (12.6 points) leads a balanced offense. The Falcons won the first meeting Jan. 3 behind the combined 39 points of Aziz (21) and Eric Sandrin (18).

SPU Coaches. In his 11 years as coach of his alma mater, Ken Bone has directed the Falcons to seven NCAA tournament berths, five conference titles and 11 consecutive winning records. His winning percentage of .712 is the best in school history, surpassing even the legendary Les Habegger. From 1995-2000 Bone's teams advanced to the regional championship game five times, including a record 27 wins and Final Four appearance in 2000.