SEATTLE (Mar. 6) ­ Tony Binetti, the top playmaker and No. 2 scorer for Seattle Pacific University, has been voted the men's basketball player of the year in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

The Falcons' Jeff Hironaka was a near-unanimous choice of his peers for the GNAC coach of the year and center Robbie Will earned newcomer of the year.

Joining Binetti (Sr., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) on the all-conference first team was hisbackcourt mate, Dustin Bremerman (Jr., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower), the top scorer for SPU. Reserve forward Mike Bushmaker (Sr., 6-7, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) received honorable mention.

Binetti averaged 18.5 points and 5.2 assists, plus 2.0 steals during the regular season. He converted 57.4 percent of his field goals, including 48.2 percent on three-pointers. Binetti is the Falcons' first player of the year since Jeff McBroom in 1999 and the fifth overall.

Bremerman is averaging 19.2 points and together with Binetti forms the most prolific scoring tandem in Falcon history.

Hironaka guided his team to the GNAC championship despite being picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll and losing his top two scorers from last season. Seattle Pacific was ranked as high as No. 3 nationally and earn the top seed in this week's NCAA Division II West Regional.

Will, a redshirt sophomore who transferred after one season at Bellevue Community College, averaged 11.5 points and 6.1 rebounds. He led the GNAC in blocked shots with 2.0 per game.

The rest of the GNAC first team was comprised of Western Washington's Grant Dykstra, Alaska Anchorage guard Kemmy Burgess and Humboldt State forward Kevin Johnson. Binetti and Dykstra were unanimous selections. Dykstra was the lone repeat selection from a year ago.

Named to the second team guards Kevin Tyner of Western Oregon and Ryan Diggs of Western Washington and forwards Lance Den Boer of Central Washington, Jeffrey McDaniel of Seattle University and Justin Bourne of Alaska Fairbanks. Travis Kuhns of Western Oregon was voted freshman of the year.

Seattle Pacific (22-5) host the West Regional tournament beginning Friday when it faces Central Washington at 7:30. All games will be played in Brougham Pavilion.

All-GNAC Men's Basketball Teams

First Team
+Tony Binetti, Seattle Pacific Guard 6-2 Sr.
Kemmy Burgess, Alaska Anchorage Guard 6-1 Sr.
Dustin Bremerman, Seattle Pacific Guard 6-4 Jr.
*+Grant Dykstra, Western Washington Forward 6-4 Jr.
Kevin Johnson, Humboldt State Forward 6-7 Jr
*Repeater +Unanimous

Second Team
Kevin Tyner, Western Oregon Guard 6-0 Sr.
Ryan Diggs, Western Washington Guard 6-2 Sr.
Lance Den Boer, Central Washington Forward 6-6 Jr.
Jeffrey McDaniel, Seattle University Forward 6-6 Sr.
Justin Bourne, Alaska Fairbanks Forward 6-6 Sr.

Honorable Mention
Andrew Smith, UAF; Chris Bannish, CWU; Jeremiah Ward, HSU;Wade Joseph, NNU; Mesut Ademoglu, NNU; Niko Nunogawa, SMU; Bernard Seals, Seattle; Mike Bushmaker, SPU; Tyler Amaya, WWU.