Contenders collide. Once again, there’s a whiff of March Madness in the air as the Seattle Pacific University men’s basketball season comes down to the final two regular season games. The red-hot Falcons (10-6, 14-11), winners of five in a row, are seeking one of the region’s remaining at-large berths in the NCAA Division II tournament as they conclude the campaign at home. SPU hosts the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s hottest club, Alaska Fairbanks (12-4, 19-6), Thursday night (Mar. 4). Alaska Anchorage (9-7, 19-8), yet another playoff contender, visits Brougham Pavilion Saturday night (Mar. 6).

Come Sunday. Should Seattle Pacific prevail in both games, Coach Jeff Hironaka will huddle with his staff and squad Sunday evening (Mar. 7) when the NCAA announces its 64-team bracket and the sites of the eight regional tournaments. First-round play begins Mar. 12 and Cal State San Bernardino has the inside track to the top seed and the right to host. SPU could receive its first regional ranking this week, thanks to its 98-93 comeback win over Western Washington and losses by three of the five teams ranked Nos. 6-10 last week. Alaska Fairbanks, which has won eight straight, was No. 5 and Anchorage No. 8. Already this season the Falcons have beaten Humboldt State (No. 3 in the region) and Anchorage. A year ago, they were on the wrong side of the bubble, finishing ninth in the West and snapping their string of five consecutive playoff berths. They have gone to the NCAA tourney eight of the last 10 years.

Steele-ing a big win. The dramatic win over Western was like a microcosm of the Falcons’ season. They were down and appeared beaten entering the final stages. But then they suddenly summoned a string of great plays to resurrect their playoff hopes. Behind by 11 with seven minutes to go and by 10 with 5:23 left, the rally began as Ralph Steele (Jr., 6-2, No. Birmingham, Al./Huffman-Citrus JC) took over. Steele scored 15 of his season-high 27 points in a span of under five minutes, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 30 seconds remaining. He hit 7-9 field goals and 11 consecutive free throws before missing a meaningless attempt with 1 second left. His play gave SPU new life and earned him GNAC player of the week.

Another nailbiter. Seattle Pacific has won five in a row–its best streak in over two years–but not without some tense moments. It came from 17 points down in the second half to shock Saint Martin’s, 85-81, then scored with 7 seconds left to beat Central Washington, 73-71. In the first eight games which were decided by six or fewer points, the Falcons were just 2-6. But they have now won three close encounters in a row, and they take a six-game home win streak into the Fairbanks contest.

Chris Cohen, the only graduating senior on the Falcons' men's team, will be honored Saturday.

It’s his night. It may be Senior Night elsewhere, but top billing at Brougham on Saturday will belong solely to Chris Cohen (Sr., 6-8, Saint Helens, Or.). The fifth-year center is Hironaka’s lone graduating senior. Cohen is the last remaining tie to the 2000 team which reached the Final Four and he is a three-time academic all-conference selection. He’s also enjoying his best season, playing in all 25 games, shooting 54 percent from the field and 74 percent at the line while averaging 3.7 points and 2.4 rebounds.

Most valuable? In the GNAC, the top award is player of the year. And SPU has a top contender in center Jason Chivers (Jr., 6-8, Los Angeles, Ca./Highland-L.A. Trade Tech). Chivers delivered his conference-best 17th double-double against the Vikings. Had it not been for Steele, Chivers might have been the player of the week for his 24-point, 14-rebound, four-assist performance. Chivers made all 10 of his free throws, including four during the 20-3 run which put his team over the top. He leads the GNAC and ranks fifth nationally in rebounding (11.4), and leads the team in scoring (16.2), field-goal percentage (.532) and blocked shots (1.8). He will see two other player of the year candidates face-to-face this week. Brad Oleson of UAF averages 21.6 points, 6.1 boards and 2.4 steals while Peter Bullock of UAA is averaging 18.8 points and 9.8 rebounds.

Three’s company. With Chivers’ lowpost presence, Hironaka has not hesitated to go with three guards of late–a move which gives SPU added quickness and outside shooting. Steele has come off the bench to join starters Jordan Lee (Jr., 6-2, Tacoma, Wa./Life Christian) and Tony Binetti (So., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.), with Steele averaging 15.8 points during the win streak. Lee pumped in 19 points vs. Western while Binetti played the entire second half. Lee is averaging 16.1 points and is the NCAA’s No. 10 three-point shooter (.504).

Put-backs. The team was 10-4 in February games this season and last season...Chivers moved into No. 10 in season rebounding (274) last week, and could reach No. 5 (299) with an average week...SPU hit 62 percent from the floor in the second half vs. WWU and was 27-31 from the foul line...Seattle Pacific is No. 2 nationally and first in GNAC free throw percentage (.784), third in GNAC scoring offense (83.2), shooting (.480), rebounding margin (+3.3) and three-pointers made per game (8.36). Steele is No. 2 nationally and leads the conference in free throw accuracy (.906/77-85). Lee is No. 1 in GNAC thee-point accuracy (.504/65-129). Chivers is fourth in blocked shots. Binetti is fourth (4.8) in assists and seventh in steals (1.7). Jeff Knudson (So., 6-7, Mukilteo, Wa./Kamiak) is No. 5 in three-point accuracy (.459/45-98)...SPU is 14-4 when shooting better than 45 percent from the field and 13-4 when scoring at least 78 points. It is 11-5 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.