THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL ...
 
Thur., Feb. 27, 6:30 pm AST — New P.E. Building — Monmouth, Ore.
Alaska Anchorage (18-11, 11-7 GNAC) at Western Oregon (17-7, 11-7 GNAC)
&
Sat., Feb. 29, 1 pm AST — LCEF Court — Portland, Ore.
Alaska Anchorage at Concordia-Portland (3-23, 2-16 GNAC [2/27 vs UAF])
 
VIDEO & LIVE STATS: gnac.tv
 
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAMBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2019-20 stats)
G—Tyrus Hosley, 6-1, Sr. (11.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.3 apg, .446 FG, .418 3FG, .864 FT)
G—Tobin Karlberg, 6-0, So. (12.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.1 spg, .500 FG, .507 3FG, .833 FT)
G—Jack Macdonald, 6-0, Sr. (9.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.5 apg, .503 FG, .495 3FG, .900 FT)
C—Oggie Pantovic, 6-7, Jr. (14.9 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 1.6 apg, .577 FG, .776 FT)
F—Niko Bevens, 6-6, Sr. (13.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.1 apg, .456 FG, .453 3FG, .920 FT)
 
GNAC TOURNEY QUEST: After missing the GNAC Tournament for the first time in nine years last season, the Seawolves have shaved their magic number to one to qualify for this year's event, set for Mar. 5-7 in Seattle ... UAA needs one win this week, or just one loss by either Central Washington or Alaska Fairbanks, in order to clinch a spot in the six-team field.
 
SCOUTING REPORTS: Western Oregon has won four of its last five and seven of its last nine to settle into a 4th-place tie with UAA in the league standings ... the Wolves have suffered four of their seven GNAC losses in overtime and the other three by seven points or less ... WOU is led by Dalven Brushier (17.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.0 apg, .438 3FG, .863 FT) and Darius Lubom (12.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 4.4 apg, 1.4 spg, .530 FG, .354 3FG, .836 FT) ... Concordia-Portland has lost five in a row and 11 of its last 12 as it prepares to host UAF on Thursday, although the Cavs still have a chance to catch or surpass Saint Martin's to escape the GNAC cellar ... Saturday's game will mark the final men's basketball contest in CU history as the university announced earlier this month that it will cease operations after this school year ... the Cavs are led by Hunter Sweet (12.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.0 spg, .403 3FG, .795 FT) and Dakota Ayala (12.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, .557 FG, .692 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs. WOU: UAA leads 23-17 overall; WOU leads 10-9 in Monmouth
Last: UAA 88-86, ot (12/7/19 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: The home team has won three straight ... four of the last six meetings have been decided by 10 points or less, including two overtime contests ... UAA leads 23-16 in GNAC meetings (since 2001-02) ... first and only non-GNAC meeting was a 91-81 WOU victory in Monmouth, Jan. 28, 1999, when both programs were in the Pacific West Conference.
 
vs. CU: UAA leads 8-3 overall, 3-1 in Portland
Last: UAA 81-74 (12/5/19 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 5
Notes: The last seven games have been decided by single digits, including a pair in overtime ... UAA won 99-94 in overtime last year in Portland ... UAA leads the series 8-1 since CU joined the GNAC in 2015-16 ... CU won the first two meetings, Nov. 7-8, 2014, in the first men's basketball games ever played at the Alaska Airlines Center.
 
SWEET SWEEPS: The Seawolves pushed their winning streak to a season-high four games last week by sweeping the season series from old rivals Alaska Fairbanks and Montana State Billings ... in the first contest, So. G Tobin Karlberg scored a career-high 23 points (8-16 FG, 3-7 3FG, 4-4 FT), along with 8 rebounds and 6 assists, to power UAA to a 94-81 road win over UAF ... Sr. G Tyrus Hosley had 15 points (5-10 FG, 3-7 3FG), 7 rebounds and 6 assists, Sr. G Jack Macdonald totaled 19 points (7-10 FG, 3-6 3FG), Sr. F Niko Bevens had 15 points (5-7 3FG) and Jr. C Oggie Pantovic collected 17 points (7-9 FG) and 7 rebounds as UAA shot a season-high .586 from the field ... on Saturday, the Seawolves got 20 points (7-14 FG, 5-9 3FG), 10 assists and no turnovers from Hosley as they shot .559 from long range, sinking a season-high-tying 19 treys in an 87-73 triumph over MSUB ... Karlberg had 20 points (6-8 3FG), 5 rebounds and 4 assists, Bevens had 19 points (5-8 3FG), 6 rebounds and 4 assists without a turnover, and Pantovic tallied 14 points (7-10 FG) and 5 rebounds to lead UAA in its 2019-20 home finale.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA's 12-4 home record marked its second-most wins and second-best percentage in six years at the Alaska Airlines Center, trailing only the 16-0 mark from 2016-17 ... after going 14-14 last year, the Seawolves have clinched their 14th winning record in the last 15 seasons and their 35th in 43 years of program history ... UAA has also clinched a winning league record for the 31st time in 39 years of conference memebership, including 15 of 19 years in the GNAC ... the Seawolves are aiming for the 17th 20-win season in program history ... UAA leads the GNAC in assists per game (18.4), assist/turnover ratio (1.6) and 3FGs per game (12.3), while ranking second in turnover margin (+2.03) and 3FG% (.410) and third in FT% (.776) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves are 5th in 3FGs per game, 6th in A/T ratio, 11th in assists per game, 12th in 3FG%, 29th in FT% and 30th in fewest turnovers per game (11.4) ... the 12.3 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 MSUB and 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.
 
YOU'VE BEEN SERBED: Now with eight double-doubles – including at least 21 points and 12 rebounds in four straight outings – Jr. C Oggie Pantovic was named GNAC Player of the Week for Feb. 10-16 and is a candidate for postseason honors ... the Kovin, Serbia, native ranks 3rd in the overall GNAC stats in rebounding (7.7 rpg), 4th in FG% (.577) and 11th in scoring (14.9 ppg), posting double figures in his last 17 contests ... in GNAC-only games, Pantovic's numbers are even more impressive at 17.4 ppg (6th) and 8.6 rpg (2nd) ... a transfer from Utah State-Eastern, his 33 points at Western Washington and 15 rebounds against NNU and CWU were the most for a Seawolf in those categories since Feb. 2017.
 
BALANCING ACT: The Seawolves have been notably balanced this season, getting at least 6.0 points per game from seven players and at least 2.0 rebounds per game from seven players, with only one player averaging more than 26.1 minutes ... with 10-of-15 long-range shooting last week, Sr. F Niko Bevens leads the GNAC and ranks 14th nationally with 3.5 3FGs  per game, along with league ranks of 22nd in scoring (13.2 ppg) and 6th in 3FG% (.453, 20th nationally) ... the Beaverton, Ore., native has scored double figures in 21 of the last 25 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, and his 101 treys already rank No. 3 on the Seawolf program's single-season list ... with 183 treys in just 57 games, Bevens is 6th on UAA's career list, while his current streak of 36 games with a trey is 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 12.8 ppg, boosted by .565 (35-62) 3FG shooting the last 10 games ... the former local Grace Christian HS star has tallied double figures in 20 games thus far, with four of his five 20-plus efforts coming since Jan. 30 ... Karlberg holds GNAC ranks of 2nd in 3FG% (.507), 7th in 3FGs per game (2.4), 6th in A/T ratio (2.6) and 18th in FG% (.500), and his .464 career 3FG% currently stands No. 2 program history behind Kemmy Burgess (.474, 2003-06) ... as UAA's most experience player, Sr. G Jack Macdonald has shown a penchant for big games this year, 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 ... now a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District performer with a 3.73 GPA in accounting, he is averaging 9.2 points and 2.6 assists per game, while shooting .503 from the field, .495 from deep and .900 at the FT stripe ... in the GNAC stats, Macdonald ranks 3rd in 3FG%, 7th in A/T ratio (2.4) and 16th in assists (2.6 apg), while on UAA's career lists he is 14th in both in both 3FG% (.419) and FT% (.831) ... 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 11.5 ppg and holds GNAC top-20 ranks in assists (8th, 3.3 apg), A/T ratio (3rd, 3.0), 3FGs per game (10th, 2.2) and 3FG% (14th, .418), while his 3.6 rpg are 4th on the team ... with two double-digit assist games in the last four, Hosley has also risen to 14th nationally in A/T ratio ...  from State College of Florida, Osuigwe is 3rd in the GNAC with 4.1 assists per game and 8th with a 2.1 A/T ratio, ranking top 100 nationally in both categories ... 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 4.5 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 14th in the GNAC with 1.3 swipes per game ... Hale, from Eastern Arizona, has delivered 66 assists and committed just 20 turnovers in 469 minutes for the second-best A/T ratio (3.3) in the GNAC.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 16th year at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (297-177) has now led the Seawolves to 15 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
CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 Team (repeat)
OGGIE PANTOVIC
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team
D2 Power Invitational All-Tournament Team
GNAC Player of the Week, Feb. 10-16