THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Fri., Nov. 3 – 11 am ADT – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Cal Maritime (0-1) at Alaska Anchorage (0-0)
&
Sat., Nov. 4 – 3 pm ADT – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Cal Maritime at Alaska Anchorage
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2022-23/notes)
G—Dathan Satchell, 6-3, Sr. (9.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.1 apg, .396 3FG [53-134])
G—Tyson Gilbert, 6-2, Sr. (10.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.4 spg, .356 3FG, .767 FT)
G—Dillon Barrientos, 6-1, Jr. (All-Conference at Colllege of the Canyons)
F—Sawyer Storms, 6-7, Jr. (10.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.4 spg, .554 FG)
F—Bishop Tosi, 6-6, Jr. (All-NWAC at Bellevue College)
 
UNDER WAY WITH MATINEES: The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team will get its 2023-24 season officially started this week with non-conference games against NAIA opponent Cal Maritime at the Alaska Airlines Center ... Friday's game is set for a special 11 a.m. tip to accommodate thousands of Anchorage School District fifth-graders to attend the contest ... tickets for both contests are available at GoSeawolves.com.
 
2023-24 SEASON PREVIEW: Coming off their program's first losing season in 17 years, the 2023-24 version of the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team is hungry to get back to its winning ways, and loaded with the talent to get there ... three starters and three key bench contributors return from last year's team that finished 13-14 overall, suffering 10 of those setbacks by six points for fewer ... a handful of seniors will lead the way, including returning honorable mention All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference performers Tyson Gilbert and Sawyer Storms, and Preseason All-GNAC pick Dathan Satchell ... the rest of the squad is comprised of one returning redshirt (So. G/F Jack Chlumak), four transfers and three true freshmen.
 
2022-23 SEASON RECAP: Despite falling just shy of another winning campaign, the Seawolf Men's Basketball team proved itself one of the toughest teams to beat in GNAC play, finishing with records of 13-14 overall and 7-11 (8th) in league play ... along with the title of the UAF Classic in November, UAA earned a season sweep of Central Washington and closed the year with a road upset of NCAA qualifier MSU Billings ... led by honorable mention All-GNAC juniors Sawyer Storms and Tyson Gilbert, UAA also finished second nationally in turnover margin and turnovers forced.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: NAIA foe Cal Maritime, from the Bay Area in Vallejo, Calif., comes north with an 0-1 record, falling 81-63 at Menlo in its opener Oct. 26 ... these will mark the first meetings between the Seawolves and the Keelhaulers.
 
TEAM NOTES: The 2022-23 Seawolves ranked among the top 15 in five NCAA Div. II national stats categories, finishing 2nd in both turnover margin (+8.6) and turnovers forced per game (20.0), 7th in steals per game (9.9), 13th in assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and 14th in assists per game (17.1) ... UAA was also top 50 in 3FGs/gm (29th, 9.6), fewest turnovers per game (35th, 11.4) and scoring margin (47th,  +7.3) ... UAA led the GNAC stats in turnover margin and steals, while ranking 2nd in assists, A/T ratio and scoring margin ... at 13-14, last year's club barely missed extending the program's streak of 17 straight .500-plus records ... last year marked just the ninth losing conference record in 41 years of league play for a Seawolf team and just the fifth time in 21 years of the GNAC's existence ... of UAA's 14 losses, only one came by double figures ... the Seawolves were 1-10 in games decided by five points or less, including four overtime setbacks.
 
MEN OF HONOR: The Seawolves return a pair of seniors who are coming off honorable mention All-GNAC performances in their debut seasons in Green & Gold ... after two seasons on the sidelines due to an Achilles' injury and heart surgery, Tyson Gilbert finished as UAA's leading scorer (10.4 ppg), along with GNAC top-20 ranks in 3FGs per game (8th, 1.9), steals (14th, 1.2 spg) and A/T ratio (11th, 1.8) ... the Colorado State-Pueblo transfer hit his stride after re-entering the starting lineup Jan. 12, averaging 13.4 ppg the rest of the year ... Gilbert's top games included 18 points in both games against WWU, 13 points in the home win over CWU and 12 points in the home win over SFU ... meanwhile, Sawyer Storms was been a consistent force after transfering from regional rival Chaminade, producing double-figure scoring 14 times, including 23 points in the win over Westminster, 21 points (6-6 FG, 8-9 FT) in the win at Western Washington, and 13 points in each win over Central Washington ... the Idaho native was UAA's second-leading scorer at 10.0 ppg, along with GNAC ranks of 8th in steals (1.4 spg), 6th in FG% (.554), 9th in blocks (0.9 bpg) and 9th in assists (3.0 apg).
 
SATCHELL FULL OF THREES: Sr. G Dathan Satchell is UAA's lone selection on the 2023-24 GNAC Preseason All-Conference Team after flashing major potential in the second half of last season ... the Las Positas (Calif.) College transfer tallied at least 9 points in 13 of his 21 appearances, including a career-high 23 points at league champ Saint Martin's ... Satchell ranked 3rd in the GNAC with 2.3 3FGs per game and 17th in 3FG% (.396), posting multiple treys in 17 of 23 appearances.
 
SOLID SENIORS: The Seawolves return a load of key experience off the bench in seniors Jaron Williams and Caleb Larsen ... an East Anchorage HS product, Williams appeared in every game last year after playing three years at Spokane CC, posting GNAC ranks of 6th in steals (1.4 spg) and 4th in A/T ratio (2.3) ... a former Concordia-Portland transfer, Larsen is back for his fourth year in Green & Gold (including the Covid non-season) and sixth year of college basketball ... the Oregon native posted 4.6 ppg in 14.9 minutes per game as a junior, ranking 11th in the GNAC with a .408 3FG%.
 
TRANSFER STATION: UAA's four incoming transfers are all expected to play major roles in 2023-24, including hometown additions Bishop Tosi (Bartlett) and Hasaan Herrington (East) ... a 6-6 forward, Tosi was a First Team All-NWAC performer as a sophomore at Bellevue (Wash.) College, helping his squad to a second straight NWAC title-game appearance, while Herrington comes back north after two seasons – including a redshirt campaign – at fellow NCAA Div. II program Texas-Tyler ... California natives Malik Jackson and Dillon Barrientos give Osborne more flexibility on the perimeter, both earning all-league honors in their respective JC leagues ... a 6-6 wing, Jackson led Peninsula (Wash.) College to a 25-4 record as a junior, earning First Team All-NWAC and NWAC North All-Defensive Team awards, while Barrientos excelled at his hometown College of the Canyons, scoring 778 points and dishing 177 assists in 53 career games.
 
FELLIN' FRESH: The freshman class features unlimited potential with the addition of local star Sloan Lentfer and former Real Salt Lake Academy teammates Trey Evans and Lyman Simmons ... the 2023 AABC 3A Player of the Year and a second generation Seawolf, Lentfer led Grace Christian to a 26-2 record and the state title as a senior, along with an impressive championship in the prestigious Alaska Airlines Classic ... Evans and Simmons add critical size to their positions – standing 6-5 and 6-10, respectively – and should be ready for D-II competition after playing a challenging national prep-school schedule in high school.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 19th season (20th year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (327-203) has led the Seawolves to .500-plus records in 15 of the 16 seasons, 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 coach in any sport to reach 300 career victories when the Seawolves beat Hawaii Pacific on Nov. 13, 2021 … 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 by associate head coach Ryan Orton (9th season/10th year) and volunteer assistant Ryan Engebretsen (3rd season/4th year).
 
2022-23 Seawolf Individual Honors (returnees only)
LUKE DEVINE
GNAC All-Academic Team
TYSON GILBERT
Team co-MVP
GNAC All-Academic Team
CALEB LARSEN
GNAC All-Academic Team
SAWYER STORMS
Team co-MVP
Mt. McKinley North Star Bank Invitational All-Tournament Team