Try it again. Nearly three weeks after leaving Brougham Pavilion with a three-game win streak, the Seattle Pacific University men’s basketball squad returns to its home court this week, seeking to stop a less desirable run of results. The Falcons (5-6, 9-11) face a series of must-win situations the rest of the way if they are to climb into postseason consideration. The first such job is Thursday night (Feb. 12) against Great Northwest Athletic Conference cellar-dweller Northwest Nazarene (3-8, 8-11) followed by Saturday night’s (Feb. 14) date with Seattle University (4-7, 8-12). The final two road games are next week at Saint Martin’s and Central Washington.

Five of seven at Brougham. SPU probably needs to run the table and finish 16-11 to get a sniff of an NCAA Division II tournament berth. The good news is that five of the final seven outings are at home, and despite the sub-.500 record, the Falcons have shown they can compete with the best, home or away. No loss has been by a margin of more than 12 points and their three defeats by nationally-ranked teams have been by an average margin of 9.7. But the secret to success will be Brougham, where historically Seattle Pacific reigns supreme, yet has proven beatable (16-7) over the last two seasons, including a so-so 5-3 mark this year. SPU has, however, won three in a row at home and this week’s visitors are a combined 3-10 on the road.

Let’s shoot for it. If only playoff berths and national championships could be settled by free throws, the Falcons’ prospects would be much brighter. When it’s just men shooting from 15 feet straightaway, Seattle Pacific knows no peer this season, converting 79.2 percent of its foul shots to rate No. 1 in the nation. The team has been near-perfect, missing only one free throw, in three games, including an 18-19 effort at Western Oregon last week. SPU is shooting 81 percent in conference games. Individually, reserve guard Ralph Steele (Jr., 6-2, No. Birmingham, Al./Huffman-Citrus JC) is No. 1 in the NCAA, sinking 93.3 percent (56-60) from the foul line. Steele made 34 consecutive free throws over 10 games before a single miss at Monmouth. He had not missed since Dec. 29. The school records for free throw percentage are .773 for the 2001-02 team and Ryan Skogstad’s .902 in 1999-00.

What a rebound. If Seattle Pacific manages to make a serious bid for the playoffs, much of the weight will be carried on the broad shoulders of center Jason Chivers (Jr., 6-8, Los Angeles, Ca./Highland-L.A. Trade Tech). Statistically speaking, no SPU post player has racked up such a season in 30 years. Chivers rebounded from a subpar game (seven points, six boards) at Humboldt State to match his career-high with 28 points (11-15 FGs) at Western Oregon. He leads the GNAC in rebounding (11.3)–ranks fourth nationally–and is also among the conference leaders in blocked shots (3rd/1.89), free throw percentage (12th/.776), scoring (14th/16.7) and field-goal percentage (14th/.530). The last center to average a double double in scoring and rebounding was Jim Ballard in 1974.

No staggering Lee. Following a brief, modest slump (for him), backcourt ace Jordan Lee (Jr., 6-2, Tacoma, Wa./Life Christian) regained his shooting stroke on the road last week, hitting 11-15 three-pointers en route to scoring 47 points. His 24 points at Arcata, Ca., was his most prolific outing in several weeks and helped keep the Falcons within striking distance of the No. 4-ranked Lumberjacks. Lee was 16-27 from the field overall. He ranks No. 2 in GNAC three-point accuracy (.504, 57-113) and 14th nationally. Lee is the team’s co-leader ins scoring average (16.7), along with Chivers.

More support sought. A couple trends in the current three-game skid are lack of balance on offense and an inability to make defensive stops. Humboldt State shot an opponent-high 57 percent from the field to win 84-75 and Western Oregon topped that at 65 percent. Combined, the two teams were 18-32 on three-pointers. Meanwhile, the Falcons have shown they are vulnerable when either Lee or Chivers is held in check at the offensive end. Forward Dustin Bremerman (Fr., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) is finding his second time around the GNAC more challenging. Bremerman, the team’s No. 3 scorer (10.7), is 5-21 from the field (0-8 treys) in the last three games.

Put-backs. Lee drained a career-high six treys in eight tries at Humboldt...The Falcons got off to sluggish start in each of their last three games, trailing by an average of 8.7 at the half...Seattle Pacific is third in GNAC scoring offense (81.3), rebounding margin (+3.8) and three-pointers made per game (8.70). Tony Binetti (So., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) is fifth (4.90) in assists and eighth in steals (1.60). Jeff Knudson (So., 6-7, Mukilteo, Wa./Kamiak) is sixth in three-point percentage (.457/37-81)...Seattle Pacific leads in rebounding margin (+4.2) and free throw accuracy...SPU is 9-4 when shooting better than 45 percent from the field, 9-4 when scoring at least 78 points and 9-5 when out-rebounding foes...Chivers is averaging 18.5 points. 2.27 blocks and shooting 57 percent in GNAC play.

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.