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Detour route. To book a return trip to Springfield, Mass., will require the unprecedented from the Seattle Pacific University men’s basketball team. The Falcons (18-9) must not only successfully defend their West Regional title, but do so on the road. In its NCAA Division II tournament opener, SPU faces Arizona’s Grand Canyon (20-7) Friday night (Mar. 9) in Arcata, Calif. Win and it could possibly face the host and No. 4-ranked Humboldt State (23-4) in Saturday night’s (Mar. 10) second semifinal. The West championship game is Monday (Mar. 12) and the Elite Eight begins Mar. 21.

Champions collide. Seattle Pacific has got some good karma on its side. First, it has already repeated as Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion, topping the standings virtually wire-to-wire. And the manner in which it won was impressive: Four wins in the last five, including three in a row on the road, to grab the region’s No. 4 seed. Grand Canyon, a onetime conference rival of the Falcons, has also built a head of steam, winning nine in a row. This is the third straight trip to the NCAA tournament for SPU and 18th overall. A year ago the team advanced to the national semifinal stage.

Wild West. The West appears wide-open, much as it has the past four years, when the host has been knocked out three times prior to the championship round. The exception was Seattle Pacific holding serve at Brougham Pavilion. Humboldt State won the CCAA in its first year after leaving the GNAC. Cal State San Bernardino (22-5) was the CCAA runner-up and No. 2 seed, and Cal Poly Pomona (20-7) is No. 3. Seeds 6-8 are a competitive bunch: GNAC co-champ Seattle University (19-8), BYU Hawaii (20-7) and Alaska Anchorage (19-8). Combined, the Falcons were 5-2 against the rest of the tourney field.

A sweet stroke. One player on everyone’s scouting radar is Dustin Bremerman (Sr., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower), the newly-minted co-player of the year in the GNAC. Bremerman became just the second SPU player with two 500-point seasons to his credit last week, scoring 15 (raising his season total to 507) in the conference-clinching, 70-64 win at Western Washington. Bremerman is averaging 18.8 points, thanks to a sweet, left-handed stroke which sinks 50 percent from the field, 39 percent on three-pointers and 89 percent from the foul line. He is the school’s No. 2 career scorer (1775) and three-point shooter (241).

Job well done. You’ve got to give Jeff Hironaka credit, and his peers did just that. He was voted GNAC co-coach of the year, earning that prize for the second year running. Hironaka guided his team through a gauntlet of challenging preseason and non-league games after losing his starting point guard for the season on opening night. His team had been picked third in the preseason poll after graduation had taken three of his top players from a year ago, including first-team All-American Tony Binetti. This marked the first time SPU had successfully repeated as a conference champion in 11 years.

The executioners. When Hironaka’s squad is truly clicking, the sequences seem as scripted as scenes from Hoosiers. It begins with an offense featuring elements of the Princeton model. The ball is moved and shared; SPU ranks No. 2 nationally in assists (19.7), 69 percent of all baskets are set-up by passes and seven players have more than 50 assists. There are screens off the ball and back cuts opening scoring opportunities both inside and out (8.9 treys per game). The Falcons converted 50.2 percent of their shots from the field during the regular season and averaged 80.4 points, tops in the GNAC. They have the potential to do even further damage. SPU scored 98 or more points five times and shot 60 percent or higher six times, including four of the final 10 outings.

Will power. There is no substitute for a proven low-post threat and Hironaka has a beast in center Rob Will (Jr., 6-10, Seattle, Wa./O’Dea), a second-team all-GNAC selection. Will came on strong in last year’s regional tournament, earning MVP honors with averages of 18.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks. This season he’s the team’s No. 2 scorer (13.4), the conference’s top shot-blocker (2.1) and an efficient finisher (.576 field-goal percentage). Will scored eight of his 17 points in the final eight minutes to seal the win at Western.

Wild cards. Whether it’s Will or Bremerman a coach chooses to stop, the opponents could well be burned by the SPU balance. Six players score more than 8.0 points per game. Drew Matzen (Sr., 6-4, Bothell, Wa./Lynnwood) received GNAC honorable mention for his ability to hit deep threes and finish above the rim. JoJay Jackson (Jr., 6-5, Fairfield, Ca./Vallejo-Solano JC) can play inside (4.9 boards) and out (35 threes). Coming off the bench is a talented threesome. Casey Reed (So., 6-5, Canby, Or./Canby-Navy) is Will’s spring-loaded alter-ego down low. Rob Diederichs (Fr., 6-8, Shoreline, Wa./Shorewood) is growing into a multiple threat at the high post and fellow reserve Marques Echols (Jr., 6-2, Seattle, Wa./ Garfield-Peninsula CC) has connected on some key shots in tight games. He leads the GNAC in three-point accuracy (.506).

It’s academic. For the fourth year in a row the Falcons had the most academic all-conference selections wit three. Bremerman, a business administration major with a 3.34 grade point average, was selected for the third consecutive year. Brian Lynch (Business, Sr., 3.52, Missoula, Mt./Great Falls) and Austin Yuen (Engineering & Application Science, Sr., Mercer Island, Wa.) were selected for the first time.

Put-backs. Seattle Pacific has won on its last two visits to Arcata, in ‘04-05 and ‘05-06 against Humboldt...Four of the Falcons’ losses this season were to NCAA tournament teams, including three 1 and 2 seeds (Central Missouri, Rollins and San Bernardino) during an 8-day span in December. They beat Cal Poly Pomona, BYU Hawaii and Anchorage (twice) and split with Seattle U...The idle weekend and 8-day break before any postseason activity provided a rest for Bremerman, who played 110 of a possible 120 minutes in the last three games...SPU is the only GNAC team with a winning record (3-2) vs. CCAA teams...Over the last four games the Falcons have converted 55 percent (115-210) of their field goals and over the last five games they have made 43 percent (63-145) of their three-point attempts... Lynch has 18 assists and just four turnovers in the last six games...Echols has scored in double figures seven of the last nine games, and he is 14 of 19 on threes in the last six games...Diederichs’ 238 points trails only Bremerman (312) and Brannon Stone (264) for a freshman over the last 18 seasons...The Falcons are No. 1 in GNAC scoring (80.4), No. 2 in shooting (.501), three-point accuracy (.393) and three-pointers per game (8.9)...Bremerman is fourth in scoring and sixth in free throw percentage (.886). Will leads in blocks (2.1), and is third in shooting (.576) and eighth in rebounding (6.3). Diederichs is seventh in shooting accuracy (.549). Lynch is ninth in assists (3.3) and steals (1.3)...Live Stats are available for all regional tournament games at the Humboldt State Website...Seattle Pacific is 15-1 when ahead at halftime, 17-0 when leading with 5:00 remaining. It is 11-1 when shooting 50 percent or higher, 12-2 when opponent shots below 46...Bremerman has scored 13 or more points in 21 consecutive games.

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.