Pavilion is epicenter. There’s bound to be a shake-up in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball standings this weekend and the epicenter will be Brougham Pavilion. On Saturday night (Jan. 15) Seattle Pacific University (3-1, 11-3) hosts 14th-ranked Western Washington (3-1, 11-2) in what promises to be a high-scoring game with the victor likely taking sole possession of second place. It’s the start of a three-game home stand for the Falcons, who are unbeaten at the pavilion. They host Alaska Anchorage and first-place Alaska Fairbanks next week.

Holding serve. This is the most competitive cast, top to bottom, in the four-year existence of the GNAC. Bottom line: there are no easy wins in the forecast, either on the road or at home. That makes encounters such Saturday’s tilt between the Falcons and Vikings the conference’s biggest game to date. And that will undoubtedly be followed by two huge games next week, when Alaska Fairbanks makes stops in Bellingham and Brougham. Coach Jeff Hironaka’s formula for staying in postseason contention will resemble the ages-old recipe recited for years: try to go unbeaten at home and split on the road. So far, so good. Seattle Pacific has won its first six home games for the first time since going 15-0 in 1996-97. In GNAC play, it is 2-0 at home and 1-1 away.

Early returns. A strong start by SPU caught the attention of the NCAA Division II regional advisory committee. Prior to last week’s games the Falcons were ranked No. 3 in the West Region, just behind Western Washington and Alaska Fairbanks and ahead of Hawaii Hilo and Chico State. The top eight teams will be chosen for the NCAA tournament in March. Since the poll was issued, both Seattle Pacific and Western split road games. The Falcons fell victim to a resurgent Central Washington, 90-79, and then recovered, putting together a late rally to beat Saint Martin’s 78-76. They are now tied with the Vikings at 3-1 in conference games. Fairbanks, at 4-0, is in first.

JC is the answer. Of all the foes in the GNAC, Jason Chivers (Sr., 6-8, Los Angeles, Ca./Highland-L.A. Trade Tech) seems to save his best for Western Washington, and don’t think the Vikings don’t know it. They got a taste of Chivers’ A game in the last three meetings, with SPU winning twice while the big all-region center averaged 23.7 points and 10.0 rebounds and hitting 63 percent of his shots. His career high of 28 points came in a late-season home victory over Western last year. This season Chivers leads the team in scoring (15.0), rebounding (9.1) and blocked shots (1.07).

Man of Steele. Blurring the Vikings’ collective memory of that last meeting is the image of Ralph Steele (Sr., 6-2, No. Birmingham, Al./Huffman-Citrus JC) seemingly scoring at will, at least in the final six minutes. During that spell, Steele erupted for 15 of his career-best 27 points as SPU erased an 11-point deficit. Steele’s game has been gathering steam over the past few weeks as he’s come off the bench to score in double figures five times in seven games and average 12.6 points while shooting 62 percent. Last week Steele sparked the comeback at Saint Martin’s, scoring six of 11 unanswered points in the last six minutes. The nation’s top free throw shooter last season, he leads the GNAC at 93.3 percent this year.

50-50 proposition. All indicators project a veritable shootout between SPU and Western, the top two scoring teams in the conference. But if the topic is shooting it’s not wise to bet against the Falcons. They lead the GNAC and rank No. 7 nationally, connecting on 51.2 percent of their shots, and they’ve won all 10 games in which they made at least 50 percent of their field goals. The top five scorers all shot at least 50 percent, led by point guard Tony Binetti (Jr., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) at 60.2 percent and Steele at 55.4 percent. The team makes 40.7 percent of its three-point attempts (second in the league) and 73.1 percent from the foul line (third).

Put-backs. Binetti scored 21 points (8-10 FGs) and made each of his three treys at Saint Martin’s for his third 20-point game thus far...Jordan Lee (Sr., 6-1, Tacoma, Wa./Life Christian) is coming off a quiet week in which he attempted only 11 field goals (making five) and scoring 12 points. A similar spell last month ended with 28 points vs. Cal State Bakersfield...Steele has hit 17 consecutive free throws since Dec. 10...Drew Matzen (So., 6-4, Bothell, Wa./Lynnwood) drilled three treys at Central Washington to match his career high of nine points...Dustin Bremerman (So., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) pulled down eight rebounds to equal his career best at both Central and Saint Martin’s...The win over the Saints was the first road win this season. There have been four neutral court victories...SPU got four votes in the national rankings last week but none this time around. It has beaten Central Missouri, now rated 15th, and lost at Hawaii Hilo, now 19th...Western Washington has been the men’s travel partner since entering the GNAC four years ago but beginning next season SPU will be matched with Northwest Nazarene in all sports...Seattle Pacific has made over 50 percent of its field goals in 10 of its wins this season and is 20-3 when doing so over the past two seasons...The Falcons, who hit 58 percent at Saint Martin’s, are No. 1 in the conference in field-goal percentage (.512) and defensive three-point percentage (.305). They are No. 2 in scoring (84.6), three-point shooting (.407) and defensive field-goal percentage (.425) After a slow start they are now No. 3 in foul shooting (.731). Individually, Steele leads the GNAC in free throw percentage (.933), just ahead of Bremerman (.920) who is also No. 4 nationally. Binetti is No. 2 in assists (4.9) and three-point accuracy (.541) and No. 3 in field-goal percentage (.602). Lee is third in three-point accuracy (.522) and sixth in the NCAA. Steele is also fifth in shooting (.554). Chivers is No. 3 in the conference in rebounding (9.1), No. 6 in scoring (15.0) and No. 9 in blocks (1.07).

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. Brock Veltri is Hironaka’s chief assistant. Veltri spent two years in a similar position with Scottsdale Community College in Arizona. A former Idaho State graduate assistant, he played two years at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Wa. Scott Reid, a King Co coach of the year at Bellevue’s Newport High School, is in his second season and George Parker, who first served as a volunteer assistant in 1986, returns for his 16th year.

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.

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.