2005-06 Schedule

SEATTLE (Sept. 23) ­ For the second year in a row, Seattle Pacific University will face a battery of tough tests in the men's basketball season.

The Falcons returned to the NCAA Division II tournament in 2005, going 20-9, and Coach Jeff Hironaka attributed some of that success to a grueling series of games against top-flight opposition early on.

This coming November, Hironaka has booked three dates with Division I programs, in addition to an international preseason opener and a home date with one of the region's foremost powers. On Nov. 1, SPU will begin by hosting a team of Lithuanian all-stars coached by ex-NBA veteran Sarunas Marciulionis.

Seattle Pacific visits BYU and New Mexico for exhibition games before hosting Cal State Monterey Bay in the first round of the Sodexho Tip-Off Classic Nov. 18. The follow day, Nov. 19, the Falcons will play Cal State San Bernardino, which has qualified for the NCAA tournament each of the last seven years.

Between Nov. 25-Jan. 7, eight of 10 games will be on the road, including Dec. 13 at Nevada, which SPU played in last year's preseason. Nevada and New Mexico both made the NCAA tournament last March.

The Great Northwest Athletic Conference campaign begins Dec. 31 at home against Northwest Nazarene. Three starters­Tony Binetti, Dustin Bremerman and Chad Williams­are back this season.