Falcon Men Seeded 6th in NCAA Regional, Meet Cal Poly Pomona Friday in Bellingham
March 6, 2005

SEATTLE (Mar. 6) -- For the ninth time in the last 12 years, Seattle Pacific University is bound for the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament.

After finishing the regular season at 20-8 and third in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the Falcons begin play at the West Regional tournament Friday in Bellingham. They meet Cal Poly Pomona (21-6) at 12:30 p.m. It will be the first game of the entire 64-team NCAA tournament.

It marks the 16th time that Seattle Pacific has made the playoffs. Jeff Hironaka guided the team to the NCAA tournament in his third season, the fastest of any SPU coach. He was an assistant coach for the previous eight trips.

"Although we haven't played Cal Poly Pomona, we understand they're somewhat similar to ourselves," said Hironaka. "They are disciplined, play good defense and execute very well."

Coming off perhaps his team's best performance in the past month, an 80-62 win at Seattle University Saturday, Hironaka is hopeful.

"We're going into the tournament on a high note," he said. "Everything's upbeat and hopefully that will carry over to the tournament."

The Falcons are seeded No. 6, and if they advance to the semifinal round, they would meet the winner of Hawaii Hilo-Chico State at 5 p.m. Saturday in Carver Gym. The regional championship game is Monday (Mar .14) at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to the Elite Eight, beginning Mar. 23 in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

SPU last made the NCAA tournament in 2002, advancing to the second round. It has won its opening game six times in the last seven trips to the regional, and won regional titles in 1965 and 2000. The last time the Falcons fell in an opening game was the 2001 season to Central Washington at Bellingham.

Western Washington earned the top seed in the region and the right to host. The Vikings (21-6), ranked 18th nationally, shared the GNAC title and split two games with Seattle Pacific. They face BYU Hawaii (16-8). Western is aiming to become the first host to claim the regional in the last three years.

Ninth-ranked Hawaii Hilo (24-3) is the No. 2 seed, followed by Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State San Bernardino (21-5) and GNAC co-champion Alaska Fairbanks (19-8).

Other than Western Washington, SPU also faced Chico State (won), Hawaii Hilo (lost) and Fairbanks (split) during the regular season. Seattle Pacific has met Cal Poly Pomona only twice previously, and not since the 1993-94 season.

Ninety miles south of the men's regional, Seattle Pacific will host the women's tournament for the third year in a row at Brougham Pavilion. SPU (25-2), ranked No. 4 in last week's poll, will meet Montana State Billings (21-6) in a first-round game Friday at 7:30.