THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
11th annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships
at Royal Brougham Pavilion – Seattle, Wash. & Marcus Pavilion – Lacey, Wash.
(times listed as Alaska Standard Time)
Wednesday, March 2 (First Round)
3:30 pm: #9 Western Oregon (7-17) vs #8 Western Washington (14-13) – at Lacey
3:30 pm: #10 Alaska Fairbanks (8-14) vs #7 Simon Fraser (12-12) – at Seattle
Thursday, March 3 (Quarterfinals)
4:15 pm: #5 Central Washington (15-8) vs #4 Montana State Billings (13-14) – at Lacey
4:15 pm: UAF/SFU winner vs #2 Northwest Nazarene (12-8) – at Seattle
6:30 pm: WOU/WWU winner vs #1 Saint Martin's (18-8) – at Lacey
6:30 pm: #6 Seattle Pacific (14-12) vs #3 Alaska Anchorage (14-8) – at Seattle
Friday, March 4 (Semifinals – at Lacey)
4:15 pm & 6:30 pm – Matchups TBD
Saturday, March 5 (Title Game – at Lacey)
6:30 pm: Semifinal winners
 
LIVE VIDEO: All games free at gnac.tv
 
LIVE STATS: Thursday's game will be at spufalcons.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary ... the semifinals and final will be at smusants.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
 
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAMBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
 
TICKETS: gnacsports.com/gnac/tickets
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2021-22 stats)
G—David Rowlands, 6-0, Sr. (12.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 5.0 apg, .377 3FG, .764 FT)
G—Tobin Karlberg, 6-0, Jr. (17.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.7 spg, .377 3FG, .823 FT)
F—Hunter Sweet, 6-4, Sr. (14.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, .394 3FG, .722 FT)
F—Keegan Crosby, 6-6, Jr. (3.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.3 apg, 2.6 A/T ratio, .318 3FG)
C—Oggie Pantovic, 6-7, Sr. (15.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.0 bpg, .555 FG, .400 3FG, .783 FT)
 
GNAC TITLE, TOURNEY BID AT STAKE: Currently outside the top 10 in the West Region rankings, the Seawolves likely need to win the GNAC Tournament to secure an NCAA Tournament berth … the winners of the GNAC, Pacific West Conference and California Collegiate Athletic Association tournaments earn automatic bids to the NCAA Div. II West Regional Championships (Mar. 11-14), along with the next five highest-rated teams … the announcement of the field will be made Sunday at 6 p.m. AST at ncaa.com.
 
SCOUTING THE FALCONS: Preseason coaches' poll favorite Seattle Pacific has dropped three straight and four of its last five, but managed to hold on for the final bye into the GNAC quarterfinals, where it will play host to UAA on Thursday ... the Falcons are led by First Team All-GNAC guard Divant'e Moffitt (19.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.9 apg, .483 FG, .783 FT), along with Harry Cavell (13.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg, .416 3FG, .828 FT) and Shaw Anderson (14.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg, .381 3FG, .892 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs SPU: SPU leads 42-41 overall, 27-12 in Seattle
Streak: SPU 1
Last: SPU 91-59 (1/29/22 at SPU)
Notes: The road team has won 11 of the last 17 meetings, although both teams held serve on home court this season ... this will mark the teams' fourth GNAC Tournament meeting, with UAA's 86-85 victory in the 2020 semifinals snapping an overall 5-game losing skid vs. SPU ... nine of the last 15 games have been decided by five points or fewer, including two OT contests ... 23 of the last 32 games have been decided by 11 points or fewer … SPU leads 26-14 in GNAC regular-season meetings, with six games going to OT … SPU is UAA's 2nd-most common opponent ... series started in UAA's first year of Div. II competition in 1977-78.
 
UAA AT GNACs: The Seawolves have qualified for all 11 tournaments, going 5-9 all-time at the GNAC Championships ... UAA has finished runner-up three times, losing to Central Washington (83-71) in 2011, MSU Billings (74-70) in 2012 and Western Washington (81-78) in 2020 … the Seawolves are 2-5 in the quarterfinals, 3-1 in the semifinals and 0-3 in title games.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA went 10-1 at the Alaska Airlines Center to earn their best home record since 2016-17 and their second-best in the arena's seven seasons ... UAA leads the GNAC stats in assists per game (17.2), A/T ratio (1.6) and 3FGs per game (10.7) ... of 297 teams nationally, the Seawolves rank among the top 50 in six categories – 9th in 3FGs per game, 10th in A/T ratio, 15th in assists per game, 35th in 3FG% (.381), 42nd in fewest turnovers per game (11.0) and 47th in FT% (.749) ... 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 also secured its 32nd winning league record in 40 years of conference play, including 16 of 20 years in the GNAC.
 
EYES ON OGGIE: Sr. C Oggie Pantovic has established himself as one of the top big men in NCAA Div. II, repeating his 2019-20 honor as a First Team All-GNAC selection, this time unanimously ... a two-time GNAC Player of the Week this season, he while holds league ranks of 8th in scoring (15.9 ppg), 4th in rebounding (8.3 rpg), 8th in blocks (1.0 bpg), 8th in FG% (.555), 18th in assists (2.4 apg) and 14th in FT% (.783) ... the Serb has posted five double-doubles to raise his career total to 14, and he's scored double figures in 34 of his last 38 contests ... on UAA's career lists, Pantovic ranks 14th in scoring average (15.5 ppg), 7th in rebounding average (7.8 rpg), 8th in blocks per game (0.8), 7th in FG% (.571) and 8th in double-doubles (14),
 
TOBIN BALLIN': An honorable mention all-league pick as a sophomore in 2019-20, Jr. G Tobin Karlberg moved up the ranks to earn Second Team All-GNAC honors this year ... the local Grace Christian HS star has produced seven 20-plus efforts this season, scoring double figures in 21 of 22 games (he scored nine in the other), and ranking 5th in the GNAC with 17.7 ppg ... in other GNAC stats categories, Karlberg ranks 4th in 3FGs per game (2.6) and steals per game (1.7), 7th in FT% (.823), 14th in assists (2.6 apg) and 9th in A/T ratio (2.0) ... among UAA's career leaders, Karlberg already stands 27th in points (922), 10th in 3FGs made (154) and 11th in 3FG% (.430), while his current streak of 37 straight games with a three-pointer is 4th-longest in program history.
 
SWEET & ROW: UAA has gotten a major single-season contributions from former NCAA Div. II West Region rivals this season as Sr. F Hunter Sweet and Sr. PG David Rowlands have combined to average 27.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game ... an honorable mention All-GNAC selection as a junior at Concordia-Portland in 2019-20, Sweet has scored double figures in 19 of 22 games, 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 (14.5 ppg), 17th in rebounding (5.4 rpg), 10th in 3FGs per game (2.0), 16th in 3FG% (.394) and 5th in minutes per game (34.5) ... on Feb. 5, Sweet surpassed the 1,000 career points plateau at UAA and Concordia combined, entering the WOU game now with 1,087 ... meanwhile, Rowlands has delivered as UAA's new floor general, ranking 2nd in the GNAC with 5.0 assists per game (30th nationally), 2nd in A/T ratio (2.7, 31st nationally), 6th in 3FGs per game (2.4) and 20th in FT% (.764) ... the grad transfer from Hawaii Pacific has scored double figures in 18 of 22 outings and has dished at least three assists in all but two games, including a 20-point, 6-assist effort in last week's home victory over league champ Saint Martin's.
 
MORE 'WOLF BITES: 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 14 of 22 games – including three double-figure efforts – and has recorded a positive or even assist/TO ratio in all 15 GNAC games ... in the GNAC stats, Crosby is 11th in rebounding (6.0 rpg) – boosted by a career-high 15 boards in the win over Quincy – and 4th 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 .426 3FG shooting, along with a rank of 8th 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 7.3 ppg (.473 FG, .403 3FG, .818 FT) in GNAC games ... Garrity has scored at least 5 points in all 13 games since Dec. 30 and is averaging 9.4 ppg since the calendar turned to February ... after averaging just 1.0 ppg through the first 17 games, Jr. F Vojtech Ruzek has begun to establish himself as a solid backup in the post recently ... a former teammate of Pantovic at Utah State-Eastern, the Czech has totaled 21 points on 8-of-9 FG shooting over the last five contests, made at least one steal in the last three games, and delivered two crunch-time free throws late in UAA's 75-70 road win over Simon Fraser.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 17th season (18th year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (313-188) 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
Second Team All-GNAC
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
First Team All-GNAC (unanimous)
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