A long & winding road. For most, the month of December means going home and being among loved ones. For the Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team it's a page of the calendar full of trips, trips and more trips out of town and into enemy territory. The first of five consecutive road games for the Falcons (3-1) comes Thursday night (Dec. 5) when they begin Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at Central Washington (3-1). Saturday night (Dec. 7) SPU visits Saint Martin's (0-5) before a nine-day break for final exams. Games resume Dec. 16-17 with the River City Shootout in San Antonio.

Just a taste. This week is something of a false start for the Falcons and the rest of the GNAC teams. They play their first of 18 conference games only to take a four-week break before resuming the week of Jan. 6. However, a fast start is essential to staying in contention for the GNAC title. Last season, co-champions SPU, Humboldt State and Western Washington each emerged with not only two opening wins but those wins came on the road. A year ago, Seattle Pacific began with victories at Central Washington (101-100 in double overtime) and Saint Martin's (73-46) and went on to win a school-record 15 straight games.

The poll revisited. After a couple weeks of results, the GNAC preseason poll generally resembles the current standings-with one exception. Alaska Fairbanks, picked to finish in the basement, has already surpassed last season's win total (4-23) and beaten three Division I teams: Wisconsin-Green Bay, Nebraska and Weber State. The Nanooks and heavy favorite Humboldt remain the only unbeaten teams. SPU was picked to finish fourth, behind Western Washington and Central.

Yu da man. It's a relatively short name, yet in scrabble or basketball it adds up to about 22 points per game. Yusef Aziz (Sr., 6-4, Seattle, Wa./Foster-Highline CC) has begun the season both in the spotlight and on a tear. Aziz is the Falcons' go-to guy and for good reason, averaging 24.0 points and shooting 65 percent in the past three games. In the last outing, he flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high seven assists against Seattle University. The Redhawks clogged the middle but Aziz retaliated by both kicking the ball out to open perimeter players and sinking four three-pointers himself. Central Washington will likely devote most of its defensive attention to Aziz, given that he scored a career-high 32 points versus the Wildcats in the teams' first meeting Nov. 23.

Long distance? Dial Knudson. No sooner does Jeff Knudson (Fr., 6-7, Mukilteo, Wa./Kamiak) walk onto the court and opposing coaches quickly identify him as "shooter." And for good reason. Four games into his college career, the redshirt sixth man is off to a sizzling start. Knudson is knocking down high-arching jumpers from as far as 24 feet and doing so often. He's the team's No. 3 scorer (10.2) and has hit 11 of 17 shots beyond the three-point arc. Knudson made five treys in his debut vs. Minnesota-Duluth, four vs. Seattle U . and ranks second in GNAC overall field-goal percentage (.583).

Trey magnifique. Ideally, Coach Jeff Hironaka wants to establish some lowpost scoring threats in addition to Aziz. But while that task undergoes development there is no shortage of firepower from the outside. First there was Knudson, then the guards and now Aziz is found parked on the arc, shooting threes. Against Seattle U., Seattle Pacific connected on 15 treys (27 attempts)-the most in the past 63 games. In all, six different players hit threes, including three by Maurice Cato (Sr., 6-0, Fairfield, Ca.) and two from Adam Harris (Sr., 6-0, Fox Island, wa./Gig Harbor) which were approximately 22-footers. Unfortunately, the Falcons made just eight baskets inside the arc and took seven trips to the foul line. The latter two totals were sore spots as the team lost, 70-64.

Put-backs. SPU has not lost consecutive games since the end of the 2000-01 season and has not lost three in a row since midway through the 1997-98 season...Backup center Chris Cohen (Jr., 6-8, Saint Helens, Or.) already has 14 rebounds, more than half his total for his sophomore season. Cohen averages 3.8 boards in just 10.2 minutes. Starter Jason Chivers (So., 6-8, Palmdale, Ca./Highland-L.A. Trade Tech) is averaging 5.2 rebounds in 15.2 minutes...Jordan Lee (So., 6-2, Tacoma, Wa./Life Christian) had a career-high four assists vs. Seattle U...Tony Binetti (Fr., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) had five rebounds and four assists off the bench...Eight of the 12 players in uniform have made at least one three-pointer...Daniel Sandrin (Sr., 6-7, Bothell, Wa.) and Gene Woodard (Sr., 6-4, Edmonds, Wa./O'Dea), the top two frontline reserves last season, are both mired in early shooting slumps. Sandrin shot 58 percent and Woodard 51 percent as juniors but so far they are just a combined 4-19...Aziz is listed among the GNAC leaders in scoring (21.2/No. 5), rebounds (6.0/No. 6) and assists (4.2/No. 4)...Knudson is tied for second in GNAC 3-point accuracy (.647)...The Falcons are No. 2 in three-point accuracy (.468) and No. 3 in rebounding margin (+4.7) but are allowing opponents to shoot 49 percent...Opponents have shot 47 percent or higher in each of the first four games. Last season only five opponents shot better than 47 percent in the 29 games...After shooting 77 percent from the foul line in the first two games, SPU was just 11 of 23 last week.

Coaches. SPU Coaches. The longest-serving assistant in program history, Jeff Hironaka was selected to succeed Ken Bone as head coach Apr. 30, 2002. A former aide at Idaho State and The Master's, Hironaka joined Bone in 1991 and from there the Falcons won 236 of 253 games, claimed five outright or shared conference championships and qualified for the NCAA tournament eight of the last nine years, including a Final Four advancement in 2000. Hironaka is the second Japanese-American head coach of a four-year collegiate program. Keith Cooper, an alumnus of Seattle Pacific, is the staff's top assistant. Cooper previously was an assistant at Central Washington and Pacific Lutheran, and head coach at Federal Way's Decatur High School.

Missing links. For the latest and best information on Seattle Pacific University athletics, stay where you're at -- on The Falcons Online. For updated standings and statistics, see the Great Northwest Athletic Conference web site.