Pressure cooker. Still hoping to make a run at the NCAA Division II Tournament and in the midst of a tight conference race, the pressure is on as Seattle Pacific University (5-4, 9-9) travels down the West Coast this week for two pivotal Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball match-ups. The Falcons visit fourth-ranked Humboldt State (17-3, 8-1) Thursday night (Feb. 5) and fly North for a Saturday night (Feb. 7) contest versus Western Oregon (10-8, 4-5) to commence the second half of the ‘03-’04 conference campaign. Following the road foray, five of the final seven games are at home.

Victory is paramount. If SPU is to make a serious run at the madness of March, it cannot afford to go winless this week on the road. Seattle Pacific saw its longest win-streak of the season snapped at Western Washington over the weekend (80-73) and the combined 18-1 home record of Humboldt and Western Oregon is daunting to say the least. To the Falcons’ credit, they dealt NCAA Division II seventh-ranked Humboldt State its only loss in GNAC play earlier in the schedule, a 99-93 decision Jan. 10. Coach Jeff Hironaka has guided his team to a 3-4 record as the visiting team with four road games left to play. Since Hironaka became affiliated with SPU basketball 12 years ago, the Falcons have qualified for the NCAA tournament eight times.

Man in the middle. Seattle Pacific has the means necessary to light up opposing defenses. Center Jason Chivers (Jr., 6-8, Los Angeles, Ca./Highland-L.A. Trade Tech) was once again the go-to guy in last week’s contest in Bellingham. Chivers hit net on 11 of 14 attempts and nailed all six of his free-throws to finish with a game high 28 points--22 in the second half in which the Falcons bolstered an 8-0 run that brought them within four with under a minute to play. Chivers garnered 11 rebounds to go with his game high point total, his 12th double-double in his last 13 games. The junior center is currently averaging 16.6 points, leads the GNAC in rebounding (11.6) and is No. 3 in blocks (1.94). Over the last ten games, Chivers has averaged 21.6 points.

Trey fantastic. With opponents doubling down on Chivers in the paint, Jeff Knudson (So., 6-7, Mukilteo, Wa./Kamiak) has made a living off the trifecta as of late. Roaming around the arc, Knudson dialed long distance and heated up the gym in Bellingham Saturday night, swishing all of his 11 points during an eight-minute span in the opening half. In the last two contests, Knudson has been nearly unstoppable from beyond the arc, connecting on eight of nine treys. Jordan Lee (Jr., 6-2, Tacoma, Wa./Life Christian), the team’s second most productive scorer at 15.9, is No. 3 in the GNAC in three-point accuracy, shooting .489 (44-90) from three. Knudson is 46 percent (34-74). Knudson and Lee accounted for five of the Falcons’ half-dozen trifectas at Bellingham.

Truly a charity stripe. For the second time in three seasons, the Falcons are among the national leaders in free throw percentage. Seattle Pacific is second in the NCAA in free throw accuracy, hitting 78.0 percent. Over the last four games, the Falcons have made 58-65 (89 percent). Backcourt sub Ralph Steele (Jr., 6-2, No. Birmingham, Al./Huffman-Citrus JC) is sinking 94.2 percent (50-53) from the foul line. Steele has made 30 free throws in a row over the last nine games.

GNAC hardware. With a month left in regular season, Seattle Pacific has three players worthy of some GNAC awards. Chivers is a legitimate player of the year candidate in just his third year of playing organized basketball. Dustin Bremerman (Fr., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) is considered by some as a frontrunner for freshman of the year. Bremerman is the team’s No. 3 scorer (11.2) and No. 2 rebounder (4.7) and has started 13 games at forward for Hironaka. Lee, while averaging only 3.0 points over his first two seasons, is second on the squad in scoring and shooting at .491 accuracy clip, and could make a case for most improved.

The West. The Falcons have already upended two of the top five teams in the regional rankings: Thursday’s opponent, No. 4 Humboldt and No. 5 Alaska Anchorage. Cal State San Bernardino, which rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit in Las Vegas Dec. 20 to defeat SPU, is No. 1. BYU Hawaii and Cal State Bakersfield sit at second and third. The GNAC and California Collegiate Athletic Association champions and the other top six teams in the final West Region rankings will go to the playoffs in March. Washburn (Ks.), which also beat Seattle Pacific in Vegas, is one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the nation at 16-0.

Put-backs. The Falcons out-rebounded the Vikings 33-29, but turned the ball over 21 times to Western’s eight. The Vikings also stole the ball 12 times to SPU’s three...Steele assisted on team high four plays and Chivers blocked as many shots...Tony Binetti (So., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) finished the night in Bellingham with eight points and two assists...As a team, SPU ranks at the top of the GNAC in free throw percentage and second in scoring offense...Individually, Steele is the GNAC leader in foul shot percentage and Binetti is No. 5 in assists (5.0) and No. 10 in steals (1.50). Lee is third in three-point field goals made (2.560).

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 Coaching Staff. In his first season Jeff Hironaka won more games (16) than all but one other first-year SPU coach. A former aide at Idaho State and The Master’s, Hironaka became Ken Bone’s top assistant 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 times, including a Final Four advancement in 2000. Hironaka is the second Japanese-American head coach of a four-year collegiate program...As both coach and player, Ben Scheffler has been associated with seven NCAA tournament teams. The staff’s top assistant, Scheffler started three seasons at guard and later served on Bone’s staff from 1998-01. He was a volunteer assistant at Washington in 2001-02. Scott Reid joins the staff following two years as KingCo coach of the year at Bellevue’s Newport High School. George Parker who first served as a volunteer assistant in 1986, returns for his 15th year. Dan Barfoot serves as graduate assistant and Maurice Cato, starting point guard the past two years, is student assistant.

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.