THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thu., Feb. 24 - Alaska Airlines Center - Anchorage, Alaska - 5:15 pm AST
Western Oregon (6-16, 5-9 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (13-7, 8-5 GNAC)
&
Sat., Feb. 26 - Alaska Airlines Center - Anchorage, Alaska - 7:30 pm AST
Saint Martin's (17-7, 10-5 GNAC [2/24 @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage (13-7, 8-5 GNAC)
 
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)
 
PROMOTIONS: The first 150 fans at Thursday's men's/women's 5:15 pm doubleheader will receive a free mini-basketball, courtesy of game-night sponsor
ConocoPhillips Alaska ... the first 125 fans at Saturday's doubleheader will get a free rally towel, also courtesty of ConocoPhillips Alaska.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2021-22 stats)
G—David Rowlands, 6-0, Sr. (12.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 4.9 apg, .368 3FG, .745 FT)
G—Tobin Karlberg, 6-0, Jr. (17.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.6 spg, .394 3FG, .796 FT)
F—Hunter Sweet, 6-4, Sr. (14.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.1 apg, .400 3FG, .703 FT)
F—Keegan Crosby, 6-6, Jr. (3.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.3 apg, 2.6 A/T ratio, .431 FG)
C—Oggie Pantovic, 6-7, Sr. (15.6 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.1 bpg, .559 FG, .438 3FG, .769 FT)
 
TITLE FOR GRABS IN HOME FINALES: The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team enters the final week of the regular season as one of the primary contenders for its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference title since 2007-08, hosting Western Oregon and league leader Saint Martin's at the Alaska Airlines Center ... due to an unbalanced schedule caused by Covid cancellations, this year's regular-season crown and GNAC Tournament seeding are being determined by a 'points ranking system' ... entering the week, Saint Martin's led UAA 3.73 to 3.58 atop the standings, with Northwest Nazarene (3.50) third and Central Washington (3.39) fourth.
 
SCOUTING THE FOES: Despite three wins in its last four games, Western Oregon is likely locked into a 7-through-10 seed for the upcoming GNAC Tournament, meaning the Wolves will have to play their way into the quarterfinals ... WOU is led by the GNAC's second-leading scorer in Cameron Cranston (18.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.6 spg, 1.3 bpg, .422 3FG), along with John Morrill-Keeler (11.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg, .525 FG) ... Saint Martin's has won three straight and six of its last nine as it preps for Thursday's game at UAF, putting the Saints in charge of the own destiny for the GNAC title ... the Lacey, Wash., program is led by Alex Schumacher (14.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.6 spg, .468 3FG, .852 FT) and Brett Reed (14.0 ppg, 8.7 rpg, .574 FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs WOU: UAA leads 23-19 overall, 14-5 in Anchorage
Streak: WOU 2
Last: WOU 80-71 (12/4/21 at WOU)
Notes: The home team has won five straight ... WOU has won seven of the last nine meetings ... six of the last seven games have been decided by 10 points or less, including two overtime contests ... UAA leads 23-18 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 SMU: UAA leads 34-11 overall, 21-4 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 3
Last: UAA 76-67 (12/2/21 at SMU)
Notes: UAA's 3-game win streak comes on the heels of a 4-game streak by SMU ... the road team has won three of the last four meetings, with UAA grabbing the lone home win, 92-81, on Jan. 20, 2020 ... UAA leads 27-12 in GNAC regular-season meetings ... teams met twice as members of the Pac West (in 1999 and 2001) and four times between 1977-80.
 
ALASKA DOMINANCE CONTINUES: Sr. F Hunter Sweet produced 18 points, 7 rebounds and a career-high 7 assists, and Jr. G A.J. Garrity scored a career-high 19 points (6-8 3FG) to lead a 95-72 rout of Alaska Fairbanks in UAA's return to the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday ... UAA also got 14 points (4-6 3FG) and 6 assists from Sr. PG David Rowlands and 18 points (6-10 FG, 4-7 3FG) from Jr. G Tobin Karlberg as they shot 19-of-31 (.613) from long range, equaling the program's 3rd-most treys against a D-II opponent ... the victory was UAA's 28th in the last 30 meetings and their 18th straight at home against its lone in-state rival.
 
TEAM NOTES: Currently 9-0 at home, the Seawolves are going for the eighth unbeaten slate in program history and the first since going 16-0 at the Alaska Airlines Center in 2016-17 ... UAA leads the GNAC stats in assists per game (17.2), A/T ratio (1.5) and 3FGs per game (10.8) ... of 297 teams nationally, the Seawolves rank among the top 25 in four categories – 8th in 3FGs per game, 13th in A/T ratio, 15th in assists per game and 21st in 3FG% (.388) ... the Seawolves have clinched their 15th winning record in their last 16 seasons (the other was .500) and the 36th in 44 seasons of program history ... UAA has also secured its 32nd winning league record in 40 years of conference play, including 16 of 20 years in the GNAC.
 
'WOLF BITES: A First Team All-GNAC performer as a junior in 2019-20, Sr. F/C Oggie Pantovic is well on his way to repeat honors, twice earning GNAC Player of the Week, while holding league ranks of 8th in scoring (15.6 ppg), 3rd in rebounding (8.5 rpg), 8th in blocks (1.1 bpg), 7th in FG% (.559), 17th in assists (2.4 apg) and 18th in FT% (.769) ... the Serb has posted five double-doubles to raise his career total to 14, and he's posted double-figure scoring in 32 of his last 36 contests ... on UAA's career lists, Pantovic ranks 15th in scoring average (15.4 ppg), 7th in rebounding average (7.9 rpg), 8th in blocks per game (0.8) and 7th in FG% (.574) ... a Preseason All-GNAC pick alongside Pantovic, Jr. G Tobin Karlberg ranks 6th in the GNAC with 17.7 ppg, producing seven 20-plus efforts thus far ... the local Grace Christian HS star has scored double figures in 19 of 20 games this year and 38 of his last 44 outings ... among the other GNAC stats categories, Karlberg ranks 3rd in 3FGs per game (2.7), 10th in FT% (.796), 5th in steals (1.6 spg), 13th in assists (2.6 apg) and 11th in A/T ratio (2.1) ... among UAA's career leaders, Karlberg stands 30th in points (868), 6th in 3FG% (.440) and 11th in 3FGs made (150), while his current streak of 35 straight games with a three-pointer is 4th-longest in program history ... Sr. F Hunter Sweet has improved the skills that made him an honorable mention All-GNAC selection as a junior at Concordia-Portland in 2019-20, scoring double figures in 17 of 20 games, 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) ... in the GNAC stats, the Portland native ranks 11th in scoring (14.9 ppg), 15th in rebounding (5.5 rpg), 8th in 3FGs per game (2.0), 17th in 3FG% (.400) and 3rd in minutes (34.9) ... on Feb. 5, Sweet surpassed the 1,000 career points plateau at UAA and Concordia combined, entering the WOU game now with 1,065 ... Sr. PG David Rowlands has delivered as UAA's new floor general, ranking 2nd in the GNAC with 4.9 assists per game (37th nationally), 5th in A/T ratio (2.4, 45th nationally) and 6th in 3FGs per game (2.3) ... the grad transfer from Hawaii Pacific has scored double figures in 16 of 20 outings and has dished at least three assists in all but two games ... Jr. F Keegan Crosby has moved into the starting lineup this season and emerged as one of the top role players in the GNAC ... the Seattle native has grabbed at least 5 rebounds in 13 of 20 games and has recorded a positive or even assist/TO ratio in all 13 GNAC games ... in the GNAC stats, Crosby is 11th in rebounding (5.9 rpg) – boosted by a career-high 15 boards in the win over Quincy – and 3rd in A/T ratio (2.6) ... another Concordia-Portland transfer, So. G Caleb Larsen has displayed a sharp-shooting stroke thus far, ranking 8th in the GNAC with team-best .433 3FG shooting, along with a rank of 10th in A/T ratio (2.2) ... since overcoming an early-season injury, Jr. G A.J. Garrity has emerged as a solid option off the bench, averaging 7.1 ppg (.483 FG, .439 3FG, .800 FT) in GNAC games ... Garrity has scored at least 5 points in all 11 games since Dec. 30 and is averaging 9.7 ppg since the calendar turned to February.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 17th season (18th year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (312-187) 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
KEEGAN CROSBY
GNAC All-Academic Team
AJ GARRITY
GNAC All-Academic Team
TOBIN KARLBERG
GNAC All-Academic Team
Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team
Pac West/GNAC Challenge All-Tournament Team
Preseason All-GNAC Team
CALEB LARSEN
GNAC All-Academic Team
OGGIE PANTOVIC
GNAC Player of the Week, Jan. 31-Feb. 6
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
GNAC Player of the Week, Dec. 27-Jan. 2
DAVID RILEY
GNAC All-Academic Team
VOJTECH RUZEK
GNAC All-Academic Team
HUNTER SWEET
GNAC All-Academic Team
Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team
 
UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2021-22
TEAM
None
INDIVIDUAL
Game
Most Steals vs Div. II Opponent & vs Conference Opponent – 7, Tobin Karlberg at MSU Billings, 1/27 (ties record by Kevin Smith vs Puget Sound, 1/27/85, and by Jim Hajdukovich vs Seattle Pacific, 1/31/98