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Home for real. As intense and competitive as the preseason was, it was strictly a series of exhibitions. For Seattle Pacific University, the first counting games on the men’s basketball schedule are this weekend. The No. 4-ranked Falcons host the Sodexho Tip-Off Classic, facing Cal State L.A. Friday night (Nov. 17) and Cal Poly Pomona Saturday evening (Nov. 18) before moving on to Las Vegas and the Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 24-25. Western Washington completes the four-team field in Brougham Pavilion.

Results matter. The first six games will carry plenty of weight when it comes to postseason seeding in March. All are encounters with fellow West Region members of NCAA Division II and, as such, they will comprise one of the key factors for determining who qualifies for the playoffs, and also who might serve as host. A year ago, Seattle Pacific started by beating six CCAA and Pacific West Conference foes and that, along with winning the Great Northwest Athletic Conference crown, helped bring the regional tournament to Brougham Pavilion.

Good signs. Certainly the Falcons have been favored to contend for a tournament berth once again, but they received mixed reviews. Two national preseason polls have pegged them among the top five–their highest ever–and the GNAC coaches voted them second––in the league. Given the 76-68 victory over Murray State and close decisions against host Saint Mary’s (60-71) and San Diego State (73-76) last week, SPU more closely resembles the former. Both Murray State and SDSU were defending champions of their conferences and coming off NCAA Division I tournament appearances.

Gold Dustin. A unanimous choice for the Shamrock Invitational all-tournament team was Dustin Bremerman (Sr., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower), who shredded defenses for an average of 27.0 points per game, including 34 against SDSU. Bremerman enters his final season ranked No. 9 in career scoring, with a chance to finish among the top three. A year ago he averaged 18.0 and hit 88 treys. He drilled 12 threes last weekend.

Tested tough. Hironaka wasn’t sure if his team was ready to face such tough competition as last weekend, but after an admittedly sloppy start the Falcons quickly improved. Their slick offensive execution put Murray State in a 20-point hole after 20 minutes. The turnover totals dropped from 26 the first night to a combined 22 the next two games. Furthermore, Rob Will (Jr., 6-10, Seattle, Wa./O’Dea) and Drew Matzen (Sr., 6-4, Bothell, Wa./Lynnwood) showed themselves to be excellent offensive options. Will posted a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds against Saint Mary’s. Matzen raised his production with each outing, finishing with 15 versus San Diego State.

Taking shape. It’s a deep team and minutes must be earned. Hironaka primarily used an eight-man rotation in California. Jared Moultrie (Sr., 6-2, West Point, Ut./Clearfield/Salt Lake CC), last year’s No. 3 guard and backup at the point, was an effective floor leader. Revolving into the backcourt were Brian Lynch (Sr., 6-1, Missoula, Mt./Great Falls) and Marques Echols (Jr., 6-2, Seattle, Wa./Garfield-Peninsula). In the frontcourt, transfer JoJay Jackson (Jr., 6-5, Fairfield, Ca. /Vallejo-Solano JC) started and averaged 8.7 points and made a team-high five steals. Spelling him and Will was redshirt Rob Diederichs (Fr., 6-8, Shoreline, Wa./Shorewood), who drained 4 of 9 treys.

Big O becomes a legend. The basketball program’s first All-American, the late Orville Anderson, is joining the Falcon Legends Hall of Fame. After averaging 23.2 points and 11.8 rebounds as a senior, Anderson earned honorable mention All-America. He holds the single game rebounding record (25) and graduated as season and career record holder as well (now No. 4 in career and No. 7 for season). Anderson is still No. 8 in career scoring (14.2 points per game). A longtime educator and coach, he passed away June 24. His wife Phyllis will accept his award at the induction ceremony Feb. 2.

Put-backs. Seattle Pacific has won 26 of 28 home games over the last two seasons. It is 4-0 in home openers under Hironaka...The win over Murray State was the first over a Div. I opponent (exhibition or counting) since 1986-87 at Eastern Washington...The initial NABC coaches poll was issued last week and SPU was ranked No. 4, even higher than the Division II Bulletin’s No. 5 last month. Florida’s Rollins and Central Missouri are Nos. 5 and 17, and meet the Falcons Dec. 15-16 in Las Vegas. Central Washington is No. 12...Ten of the program’s 17 20-win seasons have come with Hironaka on the coaching staff...Central Washington is the GNAC favorite, followed closely by SPU and Alaska Anchorage. GNAC play begins Jan. 4. The league is joined by Montana State Billings next year...After this weekend, only one home game (Dec. 2, BYU Hawaii) remains before Christmas...Last season SPU was 14-0 when owning a rebounding advantage, 14-0 when having fewer turnovers and 20-0 when leading at halftime. The Falcons made 10 or more three-pointers 12 times, going 11-1...SPU has shot 48 percent or higher from the field each of the last seven seasons. It has won 19 straight games when shooting at least 50 percent...Seeing limited action last week were Brandon Larrieu (Fr., 5-10, Puyallup, Wa./Franklin Pierce), Filip Popovic (Jr., 6-7, Montenegro, Serbia/Skyline CC) and Casey Reed (So., 6-5, Canby, Or./Canby-Navy)... A native of Serbia, Popovic is the program’s first foreign-born player since Dutchman Eric van der Veen in 1994-95. Reed and Echols were summertime transfers. Reed played 27 games, starting three, for Navy last season. Echols averaged 17.5 points and 4.8 assists at Peninsula Community College in 2003-04. Jackson scored 19.3 per game as a sophomore...Austin Yuen (Sr., 5-8, Mercer Island, Wa.) will miss the first half of the season while recovering from knee surgery. Yuen saw action in 12 games a year ago...CSTV plans to video stream the homecoming game Feb. 3 versus Seattle University...Although SPU shot 45 more threes (85-50) than the opposition last week, they also went to the foul line five more times. Bremerman hoisted 28 treys (making 12) and was 21-24 on free throws...Last season five players averaged 9.9 points or higher and the team came within five assists of record and shot 52.0 percent to rank second in the nation. The Falcons were also among the national leaders in free throw accuracy (8th/.767), three-point shooting (11th/.403) and scoring offense (16th/85.8)...Guards Khalil Mathews (Fr., 6-2, Seattle, Wa./Mercer Island), a transfer from Air Force, and Matthew Johnson (Fr., Fontana, Ca./Eastmont) will redshirt this season.

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.