And then there were 3. With three games remaining in the regular season, suddenly Seattle Pacific University is back in the men's basketball postseason picture. The Falcons (9-6, 13-11), winners of four straight and seven of 10, face Western Washington (10-5,16-8) in another must-win Great Northwest Athletic Conference game Saturday night (Feb. 28) in Brougham Pavilion. The final two games are also at home, beginning with Alaska Fairbanks Mar. 4.

You gotta believe. All along, Coach Jeff Hironaka figured his young squad would reach its peak late in the season. And sure enough, the Falcons are making a charge for one of the eight NCAA Division II tournaments berths in the West Region. Likely to need 16 wins to receive consideration, Seattle Pacific was 9-11 going into the final seven games. So far, so good. With the four wins in a row it is now back over .500 and eligible for regional ranking. SPU is also on a roll at home, having won five straight at the pavilion, and should it finish the season with a win streak, it will be a significant feat since the final three foes are regionally ranked and also in playoff contention.

A learning experience. It's been a season-long learning experience for this team, which had just one returning starter, one senior and 10 freshmen and sophomores. While the Falcons have proved competitive each and every contest (no loss by more than 12 and the average margin 6.1 points), sometimes it was a painful process. In the first eight games which were decided by six or fewer points, they were just 2-6. But last week they turned the corner. They won for only the fourth and fifth times on the road, and did so in nailbiters. Seattle Pacific came from 17 points down in the second half to shock Saint Martin's, 85-81. Then they scored with 7 seconds left to beat Central Washington, 73-71.

Starring in wins against Saint Martin's and Central Washington were guards Tony Binetti (left) and Ralph Steele (right).

Guys who deliver. A 20-2 run midway through the second period against the Saints turned the tide and probably saved the season. Starring in both wins were guards Tony Binetti (So., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) and Ralph Steele (Jr., 6-2, No. Birmingham, Al./Huffman-Citrus JC). Binetti ignited the run at Lacey, and added a steal and two free throws in the dying seconds. At Saint Martin's, Steele scored 16 points-14 coming in the final 12 minutes-and then delivered the winning layup at Central. Binetti matched his career-high with 17 points in the latter, and totaled 29 points and six thefts for the week. Coming off the bench, Steele has averaged 13.0 points during the win streak.

National brands. Seattle Pacific has made the NCAA tournament eight times in the last 10 years, but it has rarely done so with flashy stats and big names. This season, however, the program possesses not one but three players who rank among the national leaders. Steele has been among the Div. II leaders in free throw accuracy for more than a month and enters the final two weeks ranked No. 2 at 90.4 percent (67-73). Center Jason Chivers (Jr., 6-8, Los Angeles, Ca./Highland-L.A. Trade Tech) leads the GNAC and ranks fifth nationally in rebounding (11.3) and guard Jordan Lee (Jr., 6-2, Tacoma, Wa./Life Christian) is the NCAA's No. 10 three-point shooter (.491). As a team, SPU ranks No. 2 in free throw percentage (.778).

Ensemble comes through. Oddly enough, the team's top two scorers, Lee and Chivers, have been overshadowed by the ensemble cast during the current win skein. Pacing the offense over the last four games has been Dustin Bremerman (Fr., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower), averaging 17.5 points. Bremerman scored 16 at Saint Martin's, including a key trey with 66 seconds to go. Chad Williams (So., 6-8, Burlington, Wa./Burlington Edison-Whatcom CC) contributed a season-best 14 points and supplied the go-ahead points on three free throws. Over the last four outings, Chivers has attempted only 32 field goals and averaged 10.0 points-six below his average-but passed for 12 assists.

Put-backs. Much like last year, when it just missed getting the eighth playoff spot in the West, Seattle Pacific is catching fire in February. Under Hironaka, the team is 9-4 in February games. Last season the Falcons went 16-11 by winning 10 of the last 15...The four-game streak is the longest under Hironaka. The last five-game win streak came in February of 2002...The Falcons have held the halftime lead in three of their four straight wins and have shot 57 percent in the second half of those games, including 68 percent (19-28) at Saint Martin's. Over the run, they have averaged 88.8 points but their free throw percentage has dipped to .726...SPU made just 10-40 three-pointers last week...Seattle Pacific is first in GNAC free throw percentage, third in GNAC scoring offense (82.6), shooting (.477), rebounding margin (+3.3) and three-pointers made per game (8.42). Lee is No. 2 in thee-point accuracy (.496/62-125). Chivers is fourth in blocked shots (1.83). Binetti is fourth (4.8) in assists and seventh in steals (1.75). Jeff Knudson (So., 6-7, Mukilteo, Wa./Kamiak) is sixth in three-point accuracy (.458/44-96)...SPU is 13-4 when shooting better than 45 percent from the field and 12-4 when scoring at least 78 points. It is 10-5 when out-rebounding foes.

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.