THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thur., Feb. 10 - Johnson Sports Center - Nampa, Idaho - 3:15 pm AST
Alaska Anchorage (11-5, 6-3 GNAC) at Northwest Nazarene (6-7, 4-4 GNAC)
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Sat., Feb. 12 - Nicholson Pavilion - Ellensburg, Wash. - 5:15 pm AST
Alaska Anchorage at Central Washington (12-6, 6-5 GNAC [2/10 vs UAF])
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Mon., Feb. 14 - SFU West Gym - Burnaby, B.C. - 1 pm AST
Alaska Anchorage at Simon Fraser (9-8, 4-5 GNAC [2 gms pending])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday at youtube.com/watch?v=QUXzh0Ju4mk
                       Saturday at youtube.com/c/CWUAthletics
                       Monday at youtube.com/channel/UC59Z_S66SpC9B4ZfeM2bzVA
LIVE STATS: Thursday at nnusports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
                      Saturday at wildcatsports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
                      Monday at athletics.sfu.ca/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAMBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2021-22 stats)
G—David Rowlands, 6-0, Sr. (12.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 5.1 apg, .382 3FG, .821 FT)
G—Tobin Karlberg, 6-0, Jr. (17.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.4 spg, .391 3FG, .842 FT)
F—Hunter Sweet, 6-4, Sr. (15.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.0 apg, .467 FG, .430 3FG)
F—Keegan Crosby, 6-6, Jr. (3.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, .440 FG, .313 3FG)
C—Oggie Pantovic, 6-7, Sr. (15.5 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.1 bpg, .540 FG, .791 FT)
 
THREE FOR THE ROAD: Should no further games be rescheduled, the Seawovles are embarking on their final regular-season road trip this week, playing a three-games-in-five-days gauntlet against Northwest Nazarene, Central Washington and Simon Fraser ... UAA enters Thursday's game in first place in both the GNAC standard standings and its points-based system, the latter of which will determine seeding for the Mar. 2-5 GNAC Tournament in Washington.
 
SCOUTING THE FOES: Northwest Nazarene brings a 4-1 home record into Thursday's contest, including an impressive 71-65 win Tuesday against Saint Martin's … with a 4-7 record against NCAA Div. II competition, the Nighthawks feature five double-digit scorers, led by James Nelson (17.6 ppg, 8.4 rpg, .706 FT) and George Reidy (14.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.7 spg, .720 FT) … Central Washington started the season 11-3 – with two of those losses by two points – but has dropped three of its last four since Jan. 29 … with a 6-2 home record, the Wildcats are led by Xavier Smith (18.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, .538 FG, .407 3FG, .851 FT) and David Thompson (15.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.4 spg, .379 3FG, .872 FT) … Simon Fraser enters the week with a 1-4 record since Jan. 25, producing its lone victory 75-73 in overtime at Western Oregon on Feb. 1 … the Canadians are led by Julian Roche (13.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 1.1 bpg, .536 FG) and Wilfried Balata (13.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.3 apg).
 
THE SERIES...
vs NNU: UAA leads 25-15 overall; NNU leads 11-8 in Nampa
Streak: UAA 2
Last: UAA 85-76 (3/5/20, GNAC Quarterfinals at SPU)
Notes: Teams have split the last four regular-season series, with each defending its home court ... NNU won the last meeting in Nampa, 80-69, on Jan. 18, 2020 ... the Seawolves have lost four straight and five of the last six in Nampa ... the last 17 meetings have been decided by 13 points or less, including three overtime contests ... UAA leads 23-15 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02) ... 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; CWU leads 13-9 in Ellensburg
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 70-68, OT (2/15/20 at UAA)
Notes: UAA has won seven of the last 10 meetings ... CWU earned the biggest margin of victory in series history with a 84-50 victory in the last meeting in Ellensburg, Jan. 16, 2020 ... UAA leads 21-17 in GNAC regular-season meetings ... first meeting was in Feb. 1979, although programs did not play again until Jan. 2000.
 
vs SFU: UAA leads 22-2 overall, 10-1 in Burnaby
Last: UAA 71-59 (2/3/22 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: Teams have split the last four meetings since UAA took the first 20 in series history ... SFU won the last meeting in Burnaby, 92-81, on Feb. 6, 2020 ... UAA leads 19-2 in GNAC meetings since SFU joined the league in 2010-11 ... teams met twice in UAA's first year of Div. II membership in 1977-78, with UAA winning both at home … teams also met when SFU was a provisional NCAA member in 1999-00 and both teams were in the Pac West.
 
SAFE AT HOME: UAA remained unbeaten in eight home games and surged into first place in the GNAC standings with three victories last week at the Alaska Airlines Center, defeating Simon Fraser, Western Washington and Montana State Billings in a six-day span ... in the first game, Sr. C Oggie Pantovic had 22 points (10-13 FG) and 9 rebounds to power a 71-59 win over SFU … Jr. G Tobin Karlberg and Sr. F Hunter Sweet added 14 points apiece, and Karlberg produced 5 assists and no turnovers in a game-high 39 minutes … on Saturday, Pantovic tallied a season-high 30 points (12-19 FG, 5-6 FT), 7 rebounds and a career-high 6 assists to help UAA end a 5-game losing skid against WWU, 81-75 … Karlberg and Sweet each produced 13 points, and Jr. G A.J. Garrity matched his career high with 9 points (4-7 FG) as UAA shot 50 percent (30-60) from the field and committed just eight turnovers … on Tuesday, Karlberg led a 21-6 closing charge with 18 points (6-14 FG, 4-9 3FG) as the Seawolves earned a 64-57 win over Billings … Sweet had 17 points (5-6 3FG) and 7 rebounds, Sr. PG David Rowlands had 10 points and 4 assists, and Karlberg added 3 assists, 2 steals and had just one turnover in the full 40 minutes.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves were still among teams receiving votes in this week's D2SIDA West Region media poll ... the first version of the official NCAA Div. II regional rankings will be released Feb. 16 ... UAA leads the GNAC stats in assists per game (17.7), A/T ratio (1.6) and 3FGs per game (10.8), while ranking top-3 in rebound defense (30.5), 3FG% (.388) and offensive rebound pct. (.330) ... of 297 teams nationally, the Seawolves rank among the top 50 in five categories, including top-15 marks in A/T ratio (8th), 3FGs per game (10th) and assists per game (12th) ... the Seawolves are aiming for their 15th winning record in their last 16 seasons (the other was .500) and the 36th of 44 seasons in program history ... UAA has produced a winning league record in 31 of its 39 years of conference membership, including 15 of 19 years in the GNAC.
 
D2SIDA West Region Media Poll - Feb. 7, 2022
Rk  Team (1st-pl. votes)      Rec.  Pts  Last
 1 Cal St. San Bernardino (5) 17-2  59   1
 2 Chico State (1)            14-3  53   3
 3 Cal State San Marcos       14-3  46   2
 4 Biola                      17-4  40   5
 5 Saint Martin's             14-5  26   4
 6 Cal State Monterey Bay     11-5  25   9
   Seattle Pacific            12-8  25   8
 8 Central Washington         12-5  19   6
 9 Azusa Pacific              12-6  17   10
10 Point Loma                 14-8  15   RV
Receiving Votes: UAA 3, Fresno Pacific 1.
 
'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 10th in scoring (15.5 ppg), 3rd in rebounding (8.7 rpg, 41st nationally), 5th in blocks (1.1 bpg), 8th in FG% (.540), 15th in assists (2.5 apg) and 16th in FT% (.791) ... the Serb has posted four double-doubles to raise his career total to 14, and he's posted double-figure scoring in 30 of his last 33 contests ... on UAA's career lists, Pantovic ranks 16th in scoring average (15.4 ppg), 6th in rebounding average (8.0 rpg), 7th in blocks per game (0.8) and 7th in FG% (.568) ... a Preseason All-GNAC pick alongside Pantovic, Jr. G Tobin Karlberg ranks 6th in the GNAC with 17.1 ppg, producing five 20-plus efforts thus far ... the local Grace Christian HS star has scored double figures in 15 of 16 games this year and 34 of his last 40 outings, matching his career high with 23 points at MSUB ... among the other GNAC stats categories, Karlberg rank 3rd in 3FGs per game (2.7), 7th in FT% (.842), 8th in steals (1.4 spg), 11th in assists (2.9 apg), and 7th in A/T ratio (2.4) ... among UAA's career leaders, Karlberg stands 31st in points (806), 6th in 3FG% (.443) and 15th in 3FGs made (139), while his current streak of 31 straight games with a three-pointer is tied for the 5th-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 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) ... in the GNAC stats, the Portland native ranks 7th in scoring (15.8 ppg), 14th in rebounding (5.6 rpg), 7th in 3FGs per game (2.3), 8th in 3FG% (.430) and 5th in minutes (34.8) ... on Feb. 5, Sweet surpassed the 1,000 career points plateau at UAA and Concordia combined, entering the NNU game now with 1,021 ... Sr. PG David Rowlands has delivered as UAA's new floor general, ranking 2nd in the GNAC with 5.1 assists per game (32nd nationally), plus 3rd in A/T ratio (2.8, 20th nationally), 10th in FT% (.821), 6th in 3FGs per game (2.4) and 10th in minutes (33.4) ... the grad transfer from Hawaii Pacific has scored double figures in 13 of 16 outings and has dished at least three assists in all but one game ... Jr. F Keegan Crosby has moved into the starting lineup and easily surpassed his production from his sophomore season ... the Seattle native has grabbed at least 5 rebounds in 11 of 16 games and has recorded a positive or even assist/TO ratio in all nine GNAC games ... in the GNAC stats, Crosby is 9th in rebounding (6.3 rpg) – boosted by a career-high 15 boards in the win over Quincy – and 19th in assists (2.3 apg) and 8th in A/T ratio (2.4) ... another Concordia-Portland transfer, So. G Caleb Larsen has displayed a sharp-shooting stroke thus far, ranking 7th in the GNAC with team-best .438 3FG shooting, along with a rank of 9th in A/T ratio (2.3) ... since overcoming an early-season injury, Jr. G A.J. Garrity has emerged as a solid option off the bench, averaging 5.4 ppg (.484 FG, .400 3FG, .846 FT) in GNAC games ... Garrity scored at least 8 points in all three games last week, matching his UAA high with 9 points against WWU.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 17th season (18th year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (310-185) 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, 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
HUNTER SWEET
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)