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March 8, 2010

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Two Western Washington University men's basketball players have been named first-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-stars.

Guard Morris Anderson (Sr., Federal Way) was a unanimous pick, and was joined on the first team by forward Derrick Webb (Sr., Port Orchard/South Kitsap).

Western forward Zach Bruce (Sr., Oceanside, CA) received honorable mention. Bruce, Anderson and Webb all came to Western as transfers from Highline CC.

Anderson was the only repeat selection on the first team, and one of three unanimous choices. The other unanimous picks were center Blake Poole of Saint Martin's and guard Chris Banchero of Seattle Pacific. Banchero was the GNAC Player of the Year.

Anderson is second on the Vikings in scoring at 14.7 points a game, and leads in assists (5.2 avg.) and steals (2.4), topping the GNAC in the latter category. He also paces the conference in free throw percentage at 86.7 percent (85-of-98), at one point making a school record 39 consecutive free throws.

Webb leads Western in scoring at 16.1 points a game, which ranks fourth in the GNAC, reaching double figures in 25 games. He is second among the Vikings in rebounds (6.1), assists (2.2) and steals (1.2).

Bruce is averaging 10.7 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds. Completing the first team are guard Brandon Larrieu of Seattle Pacific and guard Brandon Walker of Alaska Anchorage.

J.C. Cook of Central Washington was named Newcomer of the Year, Tarance Glynn of Western Oregon was Freshman of the Year and Ryan Looney of Seattle Pacific was named Coach of the Year.

Western, 25-5 overall, is the top seed and host of the West Regional of the NCAA Division II National Tournament, which opens Friday.

GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Contact: Bob Guptill (509-535-5291/Fax 535-5293/e-mail - bguptill@gnacsports.com)

Men's Basketball: SPU's Banchero, Looney Selected Top Player, Coach

SEATTLE, Wash. -- Seattle Pacific guard Chris Banchero and Falcon head coach Ryan Looney have been voted the 2009-10 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player-of-the-Year and Coach-of-the-Year, respectively.

Banchero was joined on the all-conference first team by teammate Brandon Larrieu. Banchero, Larrieu and Looney led the Falcons to a 22-5 record and to their fourth conference title in the nine-year history of the GNAC this winter.

Banchero was the GNAC's leading scorer in conference games and finished second overall to Saint Martin's forward Blake Poole with a 19.5 average. He edged Poole for the conference game scoring title by a single point. Banchero also ranked 11th in the conference in field goal percentage (52.7) and assists (3.0) and 13th in steals (1.33).

Looney led the Falcons to their first outright conference title since 2006. SPU also shared the GNAC title in 2002 and 2007. Looney, a 1998 graduate of Eastern Oregon University, compiled a 95-55 record in five seasons at his alma mater before joining SPU this year.

In addition to Banchero, two other players won special awards. Central Washington guard J.C. Cook was voted the GNAC Newcomer of the Year and Western Oregon forward Tarance Glynn was selected the GNAC Freshman-of-the-Year. It is the third year in a row a WOU player has either won or shared the Freshman-of-the-Year prize.

Cook finished the regular season ranked ninth in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game and eighth in three-pointers, averaging 2.2. Glynn averaged 8.7 points and 4.3 rebounds for the Wolves.

Seattle Pacific and Western Washington each placed two players on the GNAC first team all-star team. Representing the Vikings on the squad were Morris Anderson and Derrick Webb. Completing the first team were Poole and Alaska Anchorage guard Brandon Walker.

Banchero, Anderson and Poole were the lone unanimous selections, while Anderson was the only first-team repeater. Banchero was a second-team pick a year ago.

Earning second team honors were CWU's Cook and Chris Sprinker, DeAndre Chambers and Derrick Wright of Montana State Billings, Blair Wheadon of Western Oregon and Drew Eisinger of Northwest Nazarene. Eight more players were honorable mention selections.

2009-10 GNAC ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

FIRST TEAM: +Chris Banchero, Seattle Pacific (G, 6-0, Jr., Seattle, WA); +*Morris Anderson, Western Washington (G, 6-3, Sr., Federal Way, WA); Brandon Walker, Alaska Anchorage (G, 6-3, Jr., Hayward, CA); Brandon Larrieu, Seattle Pacific (W, 6-0, Sr., Puyallup, WA); Derrick Webb, Western Washington (F, 6-3, Sr., Port Orchard, WA); +Blake Poole, Saint Martin's (F, 6-5, Jr., Eugene, OR). +Unanimous *Repeater

SECOND TEAM: JC Cook, Central Washington (G, 6-1, Jr., Canby, OR); DeAndre Chambers, MSU Billings (G, 6-2, Jr., Monroe, NC); Blair Wheadon, Western Oregon (G, 6-2, So., Junction City, OR); Derrick Wright, MSU Billings (F, 6-7, Sr., Brooklyn, NY); Drew Eisinger, Northwest Nazarene (W, 6-3, Jr., Mill Creek, WA); Chris Sprinker, Central Washington (C, 6-9, Jr., Tacoma, WA).

HONORABLE MENTION: Emmanuel Jenkins, Alaska Fairbanks (PG, 6-0, Sr., Tacoma, WA); DaVell Jackson, Montana State Billings (PG, 6-1, Sr., Las Vegas, NV); Jon Clift, Central Washington (G, 5-10, Sr., Spokane, WA); Rob Diederichs, Seattle Pacific (W, 6-8, Sr., Shoreline, WA); Casey Robinson, Alaska Anchorage (F, 6-6, Jr., Manila, UT); Rico Myles, Western Oregon (F, 6-7, Sr., Los Angeles, CA); Nashorn Maynard, Alaska Fairbanks (F, 6-5, Jr., St. Paul, St. Kitts); Zach Bruce, Western Washington (C, 6-8, Sr., Oceanside, CA).

SPECIAL AWARDS: Player-of-the-Year - Chris Banchero, Seattle Pacific. Newcomer-of-the-Year - JC Cook, Central Washington. Freshman-of-the-Year - Tarance Glynn, Western Oregon (F, 6-6, Fr., Molalla, OR). Coach-of-the-Year - Ryan Looney, Seattle Pacific.