Falcon Men To Be First to Experience Madness
March 9, 2005

SEATTLE (Mar. 9) ­ Although his team is playing in the first game in the entire 63-game NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament, Jeff Hironaka said he and his Seattle Pacific University team are relatively comfortable with the task before them.

The Falcons return to postseason play following a two-year absence on Friday afternoon, and will face Cal Poly Pomona at 12:30 in Bellingham. Hironaka has heard about the Broncos and now seen some game tape while preparing his game plan.

"Cal Poly is similar to us in many ways," said Hironaka, now in his third year but an assistant coach when SPU qualified for the playoffs eight of nine years from 1994-02. "Both teams play good defense and they execute well. I'd say their big people might be a little more mobile than ours."

Seattle Pacific went 20-8 and has played an extremely difficult schedule, playing six games against fellow tournament teams, plus Washington in its season opener. At one point, the Falcons had risen to No. 8 in Div. II, won 12 of 13 and beaten three nationally-ranked teams.

"We have shown that we can rise to the occasion and I expect that to be the case in the tournament, " he said. "And the early start time doesn't bother us, because we've had a few of those this season and played well."

Jason Chivers (Sr., 6-8, Los Angeles, Ca.), an all-region and first team all-conference pick at center, leads SPU in scoring (15.9), rebounding (10.2) and blocked shots (1.1). Fellow starters Jordan Lee (Sr., 6-1, Tacoma, Wa./Life Christian), Dustin Bremerman (So., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) and Tony Binetti (Jr., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) also score in double figures for a team which shoots a lofty 50 percent from the field.

Cal Poly (21-6), co-champion of the CCAA, features a 1-2 punch of forwards Jeff Bonds and David Sybesma combine to score more than 35 points per game and the defense allows just 61.1.

Despite being seeded sixth of the eight teams in the West Regional, only Western Washington, the top seed and host, holds a true edge, said Hironaka.

"I'd say this regional is as wide open as ever. On any given night, any one of the eight teams could beat the other. It's going to be very competitive."