Seattle Pacific University Men's Basketball 2002-03 Schedule

SEATTLE (Aug. 29) -- A new era of men's basketball at Seattle Pacific University will commence Nov. 22 when Jeff Hironaka makes his regular season debut as head coach. The Falcons will host Minnesota-Duluth that night in the opening round of the Vitamilk Tip-Off Classic at Brougham Pavilion.

Hironaka, who was chosen to succeed Ken Bone in April, will have his first four games at home before starting Great Northwest Athletic Conference play Dec. 5 at Central Washington. The Wildcats make two trips to SPU: Nov. 23 for the Vitamilk tourney and Mar. 8 for the regular season finale.

A second tournament, the Oak Harbor Freight Lines Holiday Classic, features Seattle University, UC Santa Cruz and Rocky Mountain College (Mt.) Jan. 3-4. The Falcons wil also travel to San Antonio for the River Walk Shootout Dec. 16-17.

In all there are 17 home dates on the 2002-03 schedule, including two preseason exhibitions. Defending GNAC co-champions Western Washington and Humboldt State visit Jan. 11 and Feb. 20, respectively.

Seattle Pacific, which also is defending conference co-champion, returns nine lettermen, including two starters, from the team which went 24-5 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II tournament.