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Quest for first. More than half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference goes into action aiming to finish the week atop the men’s basketball standings. For Seattle Pacific University, the current frontrunner, it’s a matter of staying there, and to do so the Falcons (8-4, 15-8) must prevail on the road against a fellow contender. The only game of the week for SPU is Saturday night (Feb. 17) at Saint Martin’s (7-4, 10-12). The final two home games are next week, with Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage arriving in Brougham Pavilion.

A crowd gathers. Seattle Pacific managed to hold the GNAC lead despite losing for the first time at home last week, but the hoards are closing. Five teams are tied with four league losses, and the Falcons’ edge is a single digit in the win column. Two of the combatants–Saint Martin’s and Central Washington–are truly in must-win mode, having near-.500 records and no mention in the West Rankings which determine the at-large berths in next month’s NCAA Division II tournament. Both the Saints and Wildcats will almost certainly need to win the conference’s automatic berth to reach the postseason.

With four to go. With four games remaining in the regular season for the Falcons, they stand fourth in the West Region rankings. Humboldt State supplanted Cal State San Bernardino as the frontrunner for the top seed and regional tournament host. Cal Poly Pomona is No. 3. Alaska Anchorage, BYU Hawaii, Grand Canyon and Alaska Fairbanks round out the top eight.

Formula for success. The age-old formula of winning at home and aiming for a split on the road has more-less worked to this point in the GNAC season. Central Washington again spoiled the notion of an undefeated Brougham season, yet SPU still owns the best home mark (6-1) in the conference and has beaten a fellow contender (Alaska Anchorage) and tw others on the road. Saint Martin’s has become particularly formidable at home, where it is 7-2 and building a fan base. Nearly 1,900 came out a week ago and the Saints have won four games by five or fewer points at Lacey. Seattle Pacific is 5-0 in games decided by six points or less.

Back to the grind. For awhile Coach Jeff Hironaka had himself an offensive juggernaut, averaging over 90 points and shooting the lights out. Last week the Falcons returned to earth. They scrapped for points in losing 80-73 to Central and rebounding for a 72-61 win at Western Oregon. After shooting 69 percent in its previous outing, Seattle Pacific mustered just 43 percent in the two games. Strangely enough, it hit 41 percent (17-41) outside the arc. That’s because the problem was inside, with numerous missed layups. After totaling 96 points in the paint to begin February, production slipped by nearly half, to only 50 last week.

Foul mood. Sure, it looks easy enough. Given his size, Rob Will (Jr., 6-10, Seattle, Wa./O’Dea) makes those close-range shots seem like gimmes. But what about when he’s not there? That was the case much of the time last week as Will found himself in foul trouble, a predicament he had avoided for the previous eight games. Will played just 16 and 18 minutes last week, drawing nine fouls. Without their No. 2 scorer, the Falcons weren’t the same. Will did manage to score two key baskets, finish with 11 points and block five shots at Western Oregon. It was his most rejections since a record-breaking nine on opening night.

No. 2 and climbing. The numbers that matter most are found in the win column, but the fact remains that the points scored by Dustin Bremerman (Sr., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower) quite often translate to the team’s success. Since becoming one of the offense’s primary prongs as a sophomore, Bremerman has twice helped lead SPU into the NCAA tournament, including a GNAC championship and national semifinal advancement a year ago. The team has won 61 of 84 games the past two-plus seasons. Last week he moved into second place on the school’s career scoring list (1686) and now trails only Loren Anderson (1941). Bremerman bounced back from his worst shooting performance (5-13) since December to hit 4 of 9 three-pointers and score 21 at Western Oregon. A business administration major with a 3.34 grade point average, he was also voted the the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-Region second team last week.

Put-backs. Over the last five games the Falcons have converted 85.7 percent (84-98) of their free throws and 46.4 percent (26-56) of their three-point attempts...SPU had a short-lived return to the national rankings, spending last week in the No. 22 slot. The Falcons had been absent since ascending to No. 4 in mid-December. This week they are effectively 26th in terms of total votes...Will now has 110 career blocked shots to rank No. 3 on the career chart. Emile Shepherd (133) is next up...Bremerman has now scored at least 13 points in each of his last 17 games. He is 12th nationally in free throw percentage (.887). That’s on a pace which would be fourth-best all-time...Marques Echols (Jr., 6-2, Seattle, Wa./ Garfield-Peninsula CC) came through for 15 points, hitting 3 of 4 treys vs. Central...Starting point guard Brian Lynch (Sr., 6-2, Missoula, Mt./Great Falls) snared a career-high eight rebounds at Monmouth. Lynch committed only one turnover in 46 minutes over two games...Adam Wardell (Fr., 6-2, Sedro Woolley, Wa.) played a season-high 14 minutes vs. WOU, scoring four points...The 213 points scored thus far by Rob Diederichs (Fr., 6-8, Shoreline, Wa./Shorewood) trails only Bremerman (312) and Brannon Stone (264) for a freshman over the last 18 seasons...The Falcons are No. 2 in GNAC scoring (80.1), shooting (.494), blocked shots (3.7) and three-pointers per game (8.9)...Bremerman is fourth in scoring (18.2) and sixth in free throw percentage (.887). Will leads in blocks (2.0), and is sixth in shooting (.564) and seventh in rebounding (6.3). Echols is No. 2 in three-point accuracy (.478). Diederichs is seventh in shooting accuracy (.544)...Western Oregon’s Dominique DeWeese swished an estimated 70-foot shot at the halftime buzzer. The 32-percent shooting by the Wolves was an opponent season-low...Bremerman is No. 8 on the GNAC career scoring list...Of the six teams still contending for the GNAC crown, only Seattle Pacific has fewer than three road games remaining... The top five scoring teams in the GNAC are also the five contenders, with SPU out front at 84.2 points per league game. It also leads in field-goal percentage (.508)... The Feb. 24 Senior Night doubleheader will be streamed live on the Internet by CSTV. The women play Western Washington at 5 p.m., followed by the men and Alaska Anchorage at approximately 7. Fans can access the games at no charge at www.NCAAsports.com/DII.

SPU Coaches. In his first season Jeff Hironaka won more games (16) than all but one other first-year SPU coach, and he took a team to the NCAA tournament in only his third year–faster than any predecessor. Hironaka broke new ground again in 2006, as his team reached the Final Four, winning both GNAC and regional titles, and he was voted the West Region Coach of the Year. His record entering this season is 76-39.

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.