THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL ...
 
Thu., Feb. 13, 7 pm AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, Alaska
Northwest Nazarene (12-7, 9-5 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (14-11, 7-7 GNAC)
&
Sat., Feb. 15, 7 pm AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, Alaska
Central Washington (14-8, 7-7 GNAC [2/13 @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE STATS: goseawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
VIDEO: gnac.tv
 
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAMBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
 
TICKETS: AlaskaAirlinesCenter.com
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2019-20 stats)
G—Amari Hale, 6-1, Jr. (4.0 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, 66/18 A/T ratio)
G—Tobin Karlberg, 6-0, So. (12.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.1 spg, .524 FG, .505 3FG, .814 FT)
G—Jack Macdonald, 6-0, Sr. (9.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.3 apg, .497 FG, .500 3FG, .906 FT)
C—Oggie Pantovic, 6-7, Jr. (14.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.6 apg, .558 FG, .787 FT)
F—Niko Bevens, 6-6, Sr. (13.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.0 apg, .440 FG, .442 3FG, .913 FT)
 
PLAYOFF RACE INTENSIFIES: With six games remaining (three at home and three on the road), the Seawolves are tied with Central Washington for sixth place, still controlling their own destiny to qualify for the GNAC Tournament (top six qualify) ... UAA could also surge as high as second in the final standings, which feature six teams separated by only two games.
 
SCOUTING REPORTS: Northwest Nazarene has bounced back from a 4-6 start to win nine of its last 10 and ascend to a second-place tie in the GNAC standings ... the Nighthawks, from Nampa, Idaho, are led by Ezekiel Alley (15.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.5 spg, .495 FG, .408 3FG, .765 FT) and Jayden Bezzant (14.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.6 apg, .459 FG) ... mired previously at 3-7 in the league standings, Central Washington takes a four-game winning streak into its Thursday contest at UAF, currently tied with UAA for sixth place in the standings ... the Wildcats, from Ellensburg, Wash., are led by Jeryn Lucas (13.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.6 apg, .433 3FG, .865 FT) and Xavier Smith (9.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.2 apg, .819 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs. NNU: UAA leads 23-15 overall, 15-4 in Anchorage
Last: NNU 80-69 (1/18/20 at NNU)
Streak: NNU 2
Notes: The home team has won the last seven games, including an 85-73 victory for UAA last year in Anchorage ... NNU is aiming for its first season sweep of UAA since 2009-10 ... the last 15 meetings have been decided by 13 points or less ... UAA leads 22-15 in GNAC meetings ... first and only meeting as non-GNAC members was a 93-66 UAA home win, Feb. 3, 2001, when both teams were in the Pac West Conference.
 
vs. CWU: UAA leads 23-20 overall, 13-6 in Anchorage
Last: CWU 84-50 (1/16/20 at CWU)
Streak: CWU 1
Notes: UAA has won six of the last nine, including 79-63 at home last season ... CWU is aiming for its first sweep of UAA since 2014-15 ... UAA leads 21-16 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02) ... first meeting was in Feb. 1979, although programs did not play again until Jan. 2000.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Seawolves dropped a pair of close road contest last week, falling 92-81 at Simon Fraser and 85-81 in overtime at Western Washington ... in the first game, Sr. F Niko Bevens scored 19 points (5-8 FG) and So. G Tobin Karlberg had 17 points and 5 assists, but a 39-22 rebounding disadvantage was too much to overcome against the Clan ... Sr. G Jack Macdonald scored 16 points on perfect shooting (6-6 FG, 4-4 3FG), while Sr. G Tyrus Hosley added 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists as the Seawolves lost for the first time in 11 all-time trips to Burnaby ... two nights later, Jr. C Oggie Pantovic scored a career- and UAA season-high 33 points (12-29 FG, 7-9 FT), along with 12 rebounds, but the Seawolves were denied victory in a game that featured seven ties and nine lead changes ... Karlberg added 20 points (7-11 FG, 3-5 3FG), 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and no turnovers, while Bevens accounted for 11 points (3-7 3FG) in the setback.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA leads the GNAC in assists per game (18.0), assist/turnover ratio (1.6) and 3FGs per game (12.2), while ranking second in 3FG% (.402) and turnover margin (+2.5) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves are 8th in 3FGs per game, 6th in A/T ratio, 15th in assists per game, 18th in 3FG% and 23rd in fewest turnovers per game (11.3) ... the 12.2 3FGs per game are easily on pace for the second-highest average in program history, trailing only the 2013-14 squad's 13.0 3FGs/gm ... the 19 three-pointers against UAF tied for the 5th-most in program history and the 3rd-most against a Div. II opponent, just ahead of the 18 treys against Coast Guard and in both Saint Martin's wins ... the Seawolves' 15 steals at MSU Billings were their most against a D-II foe since Dec. 30, 2009.
 
BALANCING ACT: The Seawolves have not relied on star power this season, getting at least 6.8 points per game from seven players and at least 2.5 rebounds per game from six players, with only one player averaging more than 24 minutes ... Sr. F Niko Bevens leads the GNAC and ranks 14th nationally with 3.5 3FGs  per game, along with league ranks of 20th in scoring (13.2 ppg) and 5th in 3FG% (.442, 29th nationally) ... the Beaverton, Ore., native has scored double figures in 18 of the last 21 games, including 19 points in the OT win over Western Oregon and 23 in the victory at Saint Martin's ... Bevens broke UAA's single-game record for 3FG% (min. 6 attempts) against Coast Guard, sinking 8 of 9 treys in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPNU ... with 170 treys in just 53 games, Bevens is already at 6th place on UAA's career 3FGs list, while his current streak of 32 games with at least one 3FG is now tied with Seawolf Hall of Famer Jim Hajdukovich (1995-99) for the 3rd-longest by a Seawolf ... after averaging 3.4 ppg in a reserve role as a true freshman, So. G Tobin Karlberg has emerged as UAA's 3rd-leading scorer with 12.4 ppg, boosted by 21-of-35 3FG shooting the last six games ... the former local Grace Christian HS star has tallied double figures in 17 games thus far, holding GNAC ranks of 2nd in 3FG% (.505), 7th in 3FGs per game (2.2), 2nd in A/T ratio (3.1) and 16th in FG% (.524) ... with six double-doubles -- all in conference game -- Jr. C Oggie Pantovic has take his game to the next level, averaging 16.5 points and 8.0 rebounds against GNAC opponents ... against Western Oregon, the Serb became the first Seawolf to tally at least 20 points and 13 rebounds since Nov. 2015, and his 33-point effort at Western Washington was the highest-scoring game since Suki Wiggs went for 34 points against Simon Fraser on Feb. 4, 2017 ... Pantovic has risen to 13th in the GNAC scoring race at 14.0 ppg, along with league ranks of 5th in rebounding (7.2 rpg), 7th in FG% (.558), 9th in blocks (0.7) and 15th in FT% (.787) ... Sr. G Jack Macdonald has shown a penchant for big games in his final season as UAA's most experience player, including a career--high 25 points in the win over UAF; he also dished a career-high 8 assists (with no turnovers) in the victory over Sonoma State, and knocked down the winning 3FG at the buzzer to beat Western Oregon ... the CoSIDA Academic All-District performer is putting up 9.0 ppg, boosted by .500 3FG shooting ... in the GNAC stats, Macdonald ranks 4th in 3FG%, 3rd in A/T ratio (2.6) and 20th in assists (2.4 apg), while on UAA's career lists he is top 15 in both 3FG% (.410) and FT% (.829) ... UAA has gotten big contributions from all five of its transfers, including the backcourt trio of Sr. G Tyrus Hosley, Jr. G DeAndre Osuigwe and Jr. G Amari Hale ... Hosley, from Northwest Christian, is the team's 4th-leading scorer at 10.6 ppg and holds GNAC top-20 ranks in assists (14th, 2.7 apg), A/T ratio (4th, 2.4), 3FGs per game (12th, 2.0) and 3FG% (15th, .412), while his 3.6 rpg are 4th on the team ...  from State College of Florida, Osuigwe is 2nd in the GNAC and ranks 77th nationally with 4.5 assists per game ... Osuigwe has also proven one of the best-rebounding guards in Div. II, grabbing 12 boards against Western Oregon and ranking second on the team with 4.7 rpg ... Osuigwe's 5 steals at Saint Martin's were the most for a Seawolf since Suki Wiggs had 6 at NW Nazarene on Feb. 25, 2016, and he ranks 11th in the GNAC with 1.3 swipes per game ... Hale, from Eastern Arizona, has delivered 66 assists and committed just 18 turnovers in 465 minutes for the best A/T ratio (3.7) in the league, while his 2.6 apg rank 15th.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 16th year at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (293-177) has led the Seawolves to 14 straight seasons of .500-plus records, along with five NCAA Tournaments and a trip to the 2008 NCAA D-II Semifinals … the longest tenured coach in program history and in the GNAC, he became the first UAA basketball coach to reach 200 career victories when the Seawolves beat Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 10, 2015 … Osborne captured his first career GNAC and NABC West District coach-of-the-year awards in 2008 after becoming the second coach to lead UAA to three consecutive NCAA berths (2006-08), and in 2011-12 his Seawolves posted a 24-10 record to equal the 2nd-most victories in program history; Osborne's 2007-08 club holds that record with a 29-6 mark … before taking over the head job in 2004-05, the Texas native previously served 13 seasons (1991-04) as a UAA assistant, including 11 years as the top assistant … the Seawolves have won over 60 percent of their games with Osborne on the staff, claiming four conference titles and eight trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament ... Osborne is assisted in by Ryan Orton (6th season) and former Seawolf guard Kyle Fossman (1st season).
 
2019-20 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
NIKO BEVENS
Preseason All-GNAC Team
Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team
GNAC All-Academic Team
TYLER BRIMHALL
Preseason All-GNAC Team (unanimous)
Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team
TOBIN KARLBERG
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
JACK MACDONALD
GNAC All-Academic Team
OGGIE PANTOVIC
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team
D2 Power Invitational All-Tournament Team