THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thur., Dec. 30 - Alaska Airlines Center - Anchorage, Alaska - 7:30 pm AST
Seattle Pacific (8-5, 1-1 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (6-3, 1-1 GNAC)
&
Sat., Jan. 1 - Alaska Airlines Center - Anchorage, Alaska - 5:15 pm AST
Montana State Billings (5-7, 1-1 GNAC [12/30 @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE VIDEO: Free at youtube.com/c/UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: goseawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAMBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com (masks required)
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2021-22 stats)
G—David Rowlands, 6-0, Sr. (12.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 5.4 apg, .393 3FG, .850 FT)
G—Tobin Karlberg, 6-0, Jr. (16.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.1 spg, .339 3FG, .850 FT)
F—Hunter Sweet, 6-4, Sr. (17.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.2 apg, .483 FG, .421 3FG)
F—Keegan Crosby, 6-6, Jr. (4.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, .406 FG, .333 3FG)
C—Oggie Pantovic, 6-7, Sr. (14.9 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.8 bpg, .537 FG, .778 FT)
 
RETURN OF THE GNAC: The Seawolves will play their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference home games since Feb. 22, 2020 – a span of 677 days – when they host Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings at the Alaska Airlines Center this week ... UAA is also taking the court for the first time since Dec. 4, having had their non-conference finales vs. Portland Bible College (Dec. 15-16) canceled due to health and safety protocols with the visiting team.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Defending 2019-20 GNAC regular-season champ and 2021-22 preseason coaches' poll favorite Seattle Pacific has won four of its last five since suffering a 68-65 home loss in its GNAC opener against Central Washington on Dec. 2 ... the Falcons are led by GNAC preseason player-of-the-year Divant'e Moffitt (18.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.9 apg, .512 FG, .387 3FG, .775 FT) and Harry Cavell (12.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.4 spg, .413 3FG, .769 FT) ... defensive-minded Montana State Billings has won three of its last four games against NCAA Div. II competition since a 68-67 home overtime loss to Northwest Nazarene in the GNAC opener, allowing just 55.8 points per game in its last five contests ... the Yellowjackets are led by Carrington Wiggins (15.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.3 spg, .800 FT) and Damen Thacker (14.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.8 spg, .896 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs SPU: SPU leads 41-40 overall; UAA leads 28-14 in Anchorage
Last: UAA 86-85 (3/6/20, GNAC Semifinals at SPU)
Notes: The road team has won 11 of the last 15 meetings, including SPU's 79-73 victory in the last meeting in Anchorage ... UAA's victory in the 2020 GNAC Tournament snapped a 5-game losing skid vs. SPU ... the Falcons have won four straight and lead 6-1 at the Alaska Airlines Center ... eight of the last 13 games have been decided by five points or fewer, including two OT contests ... 22 of the last 30 games have been decided by 11 points or fewer … SPU leads 25-13 in GNAC regular-season meetings, with six games going to OT … SPU is UAA's 2nd-most common opponent (81 meetings) ... series started in UAA's first year of Div. II competition in 1977-78.
 
vs MSUB: UAA leads 47-33 overall, 32-6 in Anchorage
Last: UAA 87-73 (2/22/20 at UAA)
Notes: UAA has won eight of the last 12 meetings ... UAA leads 5-1 at the Alaska Airlines Center, with MSUB's victory coming Feb. 28, 2019 ... UAA leads 18-8 in GNAC regular-season meetings since MSUB joined the league in 2007-08 ... MSUB is UAA's 3rd-most common opponent … teams met at least twice per season each year between 1981-82 and 2000-01 as members of the Great Northwest and Pacific West conferences ... first meeting was in 1977-78 ... in 19 games from 1994-2001, teams combined to score 90-plus a total of 31 times ... in 28 games since teams resumed series in 2008, neither has scored more than 90 points.
 
BACK IN THE GNAC: The Seawolves played their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season games since Feb. 2020 when they split road contests Dec. 2 at Saint Martin's (W, 76-67) and Dec. 4 at Western Oregon (L, 80-71) in their most recent outings ... in Lacey, Jr. G Tobin Karlberg poured in 22 points (7-13 FG, 6-12 3FG) and Sr. C Oggie Pantovic had 15 points (6-10 FG), 10 rebounds and 2 blocks as UAA led virtually wire to wire against the Saints ... Sr. F Hunter Sweet collected 17 points (7-13 FG) and 7 rebounds, Sr. PG David Rowlands had 15 points and 4 assists, and Jr. F Keegan Crosby added 9 rebounds and 5 assists to help the Seawolves outshoot the hosts .491 to .397 ... in Monmouth, Pantovic had 26 points (12-19 FG) and 11 rebounds, but Western Oregon closed the first half with a 17-3 run and held off a second-half Seawolf charge ... Rowlands had 14 points (5-10 FG) and 4 assists, and Sweet had 11 points and 8 rebounds in his final game in his home state.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves moved into this week's D2SIDA West Region media poll at No. 9, giving the GNAC four of the top 10 ... UAA leads the early GNAC stats in assists per game (18.7) and 3FGs per game (11.0), while ranking second in scoring defense (66.7), rebounding defense (31.8), A/T ratio (1.7) and offensive rebound pct. (.356) ... of 297 teams nationally, the Seawolves rank among the top 50 in five categories, including 6th in A/T ratio, 9th in assists per game and 13th in 3FGs per game ... the Seawolves have recorded winning records in 14 of the last 15 seasons (the other was .500) and 35 of 43 seasons in program history ... UAA has produced a winning league record in 31 of their 39 years of conference membership, including 15 of 19 years in the GNAC ... the Seawolves reached 20 wins for the 17th time in program history in 2019-20.
 
D2SIDA West Region Media Poll - Dec. 21, 2021
Rk  Team (1st-pl. votes)     Rec.  Pts  Last
 1 Chico State (6)            9-0  60   1
 2 Cal State San Marcos       9-0  53   2
 3 Cal State San Bernardino  10-1  49   3
 4 Biola                      9-2  38   6
 5 Cal Poly Pomona            6-3  32   4
   Seattle Pacific            8-5  32   5
 7 Academy of Art             8-3  30   7
 8 Western Washington         7-4  12   8
 9 Alaska Anchorage           6-3   7   RV
   Central Washington         7-2   7   RV
 
'WOLF BITES: A First Team All-GNAC performer as a junior in 2019-20, Sr. F/C Oggie Pantovic has gotten off to a strong start, holding early league ranks of 10th in scoring (14.9 ppg), 3rd in rebounding (9.2 rpg), 2nd in blocks (1.8 bpg) and 19th in assists (2.3 apg) ... the Preseason All-GNAC pick owns 12 career double-doubles and has posted double-figure scoring in 26 of his last 28 contests, earning GNAC Player of the Week honors for his play against Quincy and Hawaii Hilo ... another Preseason All-GNAC pick, Jr. G Tobin Karlberg ranks 6th in the early GNAC stats with 16.7 ppg ... the local Grace Christian HS star has scored double figures in eight of nine games this year and 27 of his last 33 outings ... Karlberg's .440 career 3FG% currently sits 6th on UAA's all-time list, while current streak of 24 straight games with a three-pointer is 7th-longest ... Sr. F Hunter Sweet has seemingly improved the skills that made him an honorable mention All-GNAC selection as a junior at Concordia-Portland in 2019-20, scoring at least 9 points in each game, and becoming the first Seawolf since Suki Wiggs in 2016-17 to post multiple 30-point efforts in the same season (Nov. 16 at UHH, Nov. 27 vs. Quincy) ... the Portland native ranks 3rd in scoring (17.2 ppg), 5th in rebounding (6.9), 5th in 3FGs per game (2.7), 11th in 3FG% (.421) and 3rd in minutes (35.8) in the GNAC stats ... Sr. PG David Rowlands has delivered as UAA's new floor general, leading the GNAC with 5.4 assists per game (26th nationally) and ranking 5th in A/T ratio (2.9, 31st, nationally), 19th in scoring (12.3 ppg), 3rd in FT% (.850), 6th in 3FGs per game (2.4), 17th in 3FG% (.393) and 8th in minutes (33.6) ... the grad transfer from Hawaii Pacific has scored double figures in seven of nine outings and has at least two rebounds and two assists in all nine games ... another Concordia-Portland transfer, So. G Caleb Larsen has displayed a sharp-shooting stroke thus far, ranking 5th in the GNAC with .471 3FG shooting, along with 9th in assists (2.8 apg) and 6th in A/T ratio (2.8) ... Jr. F Keegan Crosby has moved into the starting lineup and already surpassed his production from his sophomore season ... the Seattle native scored consecutive career highs of 7 and 10 points against Lincoln Christian, and he ranks 7th in the league with 6.7 rebounds per game.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 17th season (18th year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (305-183) 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 Ryan Orton (7th season/8th year), Jalon McCullough (1st season) and volunteer assistant Ryan Engebretsen (1st season/2nd year).
 
2021-22 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
TOBIN KARLBERG
Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team
Pac West/GNAC Challenge All-Tournament Team
Preseason All-GNAC Team
OGGIE PANTOVIC
GNAC Player of the Week, Nov. 22-28
Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic Most Outstanding Player
Preseason All-GNAC Team
DAVID ROWLANDS
Pac West/GNAC Challenge All-Tournament Team
HUNTER SWEET
Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team