Seeking the high life. Brought down to earth during a trip to Alaska, Seattle Pacific University seeks to resume the high life when the men's basketball team returns home for a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference games this week. The Falcons (8-4, 12-9), who sank from second to fourth in the standings and facing a similar drop in the regional poll, host No. 3-ranked Humboldt State (11-2, 20-2) Thursday night (Feb. 20) and Western Oregon (5-8, 12-10) Saturday night (Feb. 22). Four of the final six regular season games are at Brougham Pavilion and five, counting a trip to Seattle U., are within the city limits. Next week begins with a flight to Idaho and Northwest Nazarene.

No margin for error. It's been an up-and-down year for the Falcons but they have managed to bounce back twice already. And they will need to do it again to secure an NCAA Division II tournament bid for the sixth year in a row. SPU will likely be no higher than No. 6 in the next West Region ranking due to losses at Alaska Fairbanks (86-78) and Alaska Anchorage (90-84 in overtime). In early December, following a rare home loss, it went on the road to win its first two GNAC games. Then in mid-January, after losing five of six, Seattle Pacific reeled off six victories in seven games. The top eight teams in the region will earn playoff berths and Coach Jeff Hironaka knows his team needs to win at least five more to make the postseason.

Home cookin'. Brougham Pavilion has long proven a safe haven and although they've been beaten at home three times, the Falcons have won four in a row there by an average margin of 23.2 points. Perhaps the most memorable pavilion victory of past 25 years was provided by Humboldt's last visit, near the end of last season. The Lumberjacks were fifth-ranked and led for the final six minutes until Maurice Cato (Sr., 6-0, Fairfield, Ca.) connected on a buzzer-beating three-pointer for an 81-78 win, thereby giving Seattle Pacific a share of the GNAC championship. SPU is 46-4 in conference home games the past three-plus seasons and has not lost back-to-back league home games since 1988.

Playoff picture. Humboldt State leads the GNAC by two games and is also chasing Cal State San Bernardino for the top seed and home-court advantage in the playoffs. Each won twice last week. BYU Hawaii (idle) was No. 3 last week, followed by SPU, Cal Poly Pomona (split), Hawaii Hilo (split), Sonoma State (split), Alaska Fairbanks (split) and Cal State Bakersfield (two wins). The NCAA expands the bracket by two teams per region in 2003, but only one previous SPU team (1998) with 10 losses has qualified.

Chivers send shivers. While star forward Yusef Aziz (Sr., 6-4, Seattle, Wa./Foster) is the center of opponents' attention, another center is developing into a force in his own right. Jason Chivers (So., 6-8, Palmdale, Ca./Highland-L.A. Trade Tech) has improved with each passing week and, given that this is only his third year of organized basketball, his future looks extremely bright. Chivers sent shivers through Alaska last week, totaling 30 points (11-15 FGs), 14 rebounds and six blocked shots. He has now scored in double figures six straight games (after only three times in the first 15), leads the team in field-goal accuracy (.577), blocks (0.86) and is the co-leader in rebounding (6.4).

It's all about shooting. When the offense is clicking, shots are falling and the Falcons are tough to beat. They are the top shooting team in the conference (50 percent overall, 41 percent outside the arc) and 12-2 when hitting at least 49 percent from the field. Humboldt, meanwhile, is the GNAC's top defensive unit, allowing just 68.7 points per game. Traditionally stingy SPU has done well (11-3) this season when holding foes under 80 points.

Put-backs. Adam Harris (Sr., 6-0, Fox Island, Wa./Gig Harbor) is coming off a career-high 16 points (4-6 treys) at Anchorage...Aziz (22 points, 10 boards) and Chivers (15 and 10) each posted double-doubles in the first overtime game of the year at UAA. Chivers also had a career-high five blocks...Gene Woodard (Sr., 6-4, Edmonds, Wa./O'Dea) came off the bench for back-to-back 12-point outings in Alaska, hitting 9-12 shots...Tony Binetti (Fr., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) matched his season-high with 12 points at Fairbanks and played 41 minutes on the trip...SPU is now 12-1 when leading or tied at halftime. Anchorage became the first team to rally from a deficit at intermission...Fairbanks became just the fourth opponent to shoot above 50 percent...Seattle Pacific is No. 1 in both GNAC 3-point (.413) and overall (.500) field goal accuracy. Those figures rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the NCAA. Individually, Harris continues to lead the conference in trey accuracy (.525/32-61) while Jeff Knudson (Fr., 6-7, Mukilteo, Wa./Kamiak) is fourth (.468/22-47). Chivers is No. 3 in shooting (.577), No. 6 in rebounding (6.4) and No. 10 in blocks (0.86). Aziz ranks No. 6 in GNAC scoring (17.9) and rebounding (6.4), and No. 7 in assists (3.6). Cato is No. 7 in steals (1.65).

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.