Turnaround time. Sometimes it takes awhile for New Year's resolutions to take hold, but the fact is that the Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team must break a bad habit this weekend. The Falcons (2-0, 6-5), who have slumped of late, resume Great Northwest Athletic Conference play Saturday night (Jan. 11) versus Western Washington (1-1, 6-4). It will mark the midway point in a five-game home stand which continues next week against Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks.

First, the good news. As far as the conference is concerned, Seattle Pacific finds itself in good shape, sitting atop the standings along with Fairbanks. But the Falcons can ill-afford a home loss because later this month they go the road for five out of seven games. History points to a turnaround taking place in Brougham Pavilion because they have not lost back-to-back home games in five years and have not dropped three or more home games in a single season since 1987-88. SPU is also 40-3 in home conference games the past three years.

So much for the holidays. What a difference a month makes. Back on Dec. 7, SPU stood strong at 5-1 following a pair of impressive road wins to begin the GNAC schedule. But in the five games since, the Falcons have lost four times, including their worst home loss in four years in their last outing. It's the program's worst slump in five seasons. Hopefully, having the students back in the stands will help. But Coach Jeff Hironaka is more concerned with a flagging offense which has struggled to score points of late, finishing under 68 points in three of the last five games. In the 83-67 loss to Rocky Mountain, the Falcons shot 34 percent from the field in the second half and did not make a field goal in the final seven minutes as the Bears pulled away.

A fine line. Hironaka knew full well that there was little margin for error if this club was to succeed. He said in the preseason that the key would be the offense and those words ring true. When the Falcons score at least 70 points they are 6-1 (they have averaged 68.0 in the losses). Key scorers Yusef Aziz (Sr., 6-4, Seattle, Wa./Foster-Highline CC) and Maurice Cato (Sr., 6-0, Fairfield, Ca.) actually average fewer points in the victories but because several role players have stepped forward, the team scores 81.7 points in wins. Aziz, who made the Oak Harbor Freight Lines Classic all-tournament team, leads the team with an overall average of 16.8 while Cato is next at 11.4.

Jesse just does it. If anyone made a case for getting more playing time and scoring opportunities last week it was Jesse Keely (Sr., 6-7, Fircrest, Wa./Bellarmine). Coming off the bench, Keely canned 10 of 14 field goals and scored a combined 23 points in 39 minutes. In the last three games he has averaged 10.7 points and shot 76 percent from the floor and 80 percent from the foul line. Another option is Jason Chivers (So., 6-8, Palmdale, Ca./Highland-L.A. Trade Tech), the starting center who is hitting 53 percent of his shots for the season and clamping down 6.3 rebounds while averaging just 19.4 minutes.

The big picture. Although the Falcons have already equaled their total losses for last season, they are still in good shape with regards to a run at one of eight NCAA Division II playoff berths allotted to the region. Seattle Pacific is 3-1 within the West and was ranked fifth in the most recent regional poll. SPU has qualified for the playoffs each of the last five seasons and eight of the last nine.

Put-backs. The Falcons broke a team record with 20 steals vs. UC Santa Cruz. Aziz led all players with six thefts. The old record was 19 set against Northwest College in 1994...Back-up center Chris Cohen (Jr., 6-8, Saint Helens, Or.) is out 3-6 weeks after suffering a sprained left ankle vs. Rocky Mountain. Cohen had scored 17 points in his previous two games...Jeff Knudson (Fr., 6-7, Mukilteo, Wa./Kamiak), who started off with a bang by hitting 11-17 treys in the first four games, has gotten off only 15 shots behind the arc in the last seven contests. The Falcons rate No. 2 in GNAC 3-point accuracy (.417), No. 3 in field goal accuracy (.479) but No. 10 at the foul line (.628). They were 20-35 on free throws last week...Aziz ranks No. 8 in GNAC scoring, seventh in assists (3.6) and 10th in rebounding (5.9). He had career-high seven assists vs. UC Santa Cruz...Chivers is seventh in rebounding (6.5) and 10th in field-goal percentage (.530)...Knudson and Adam Harris (Sr., 6-0, Fox Island, Wa./Gig Harbor) are tied for No .2 in three-point accuracy (17-32/.531)...Tony Binetti (Fr., 6-2, Enumclaw, Wa./Enumclaw) posted season-highs of 12 points, seven assists and two steals vs. UC Santa Cruz. Gene Woodard (Sr., 6-4, Edmonds, Wa./O'Dea) scored a season-high 13 points (6-9 FGs) in the same game. The reserves accounted for 59 points in the 95-60 win...The loss to Rocky Mountain was the worst at home since an 18-point defeat to Central Washington in 1998-99. It was also the first loss in the Oak Harbor tournament since the 1995-96 season.

Tickets, please. Reserved tickets for all SPU home games are priced $7 and $6. General admission is $5 with youth, students and senior citizens $3 with proper identification. Groups can qualify for discounts by calling (206) 281-2085 in advance.

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. George Parker who first served as an assistant in 1986, returns for his 14th year on the staff. Others who are new to the staff are Rich King, former Nebraska and Seattle SuperSonics center, and Michael Johnson, an all-state selection from nearby Ballard and four-year letterman at Washington.

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.