THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thu., Nov. 30 – 5:30 pm AST – Alterowitz Gymnasium – Billings, Mont.
#23 Alaska Anchorage (8-0, 0-0 GNAC) at Montana State Billings (3-3, 0-0 GNAC)
&
Sat., Dec. 2 – 3:15 pm AST – Royal Brougham Pavilion – Seattle, Wash.
#23 Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific (4-6, 0-0 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday at youtube.com/watch?v=t_v5P4qFJRM
                       Saturday at youtube.com/watch?v=C0HFJ7fgMaQ
LIVE STATS: Thursday at msubsports.com/sidearmstats/mbball
                      Saturday at spufalcons.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023-24 stats)
G—Dathan Satchell, 6-3, Sr. (7.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.5 apg, 2.2/1 A/T)
G—Tyson Gilbert, 6-2, Sr. (15.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.6 spg, .481 FG, .408 3FG, .885 FT)
G—Dillon Barrientos, 6-1, Jr. (8.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.0 spg, .353 3FG)
F—Sawyer Storms, 6-7, Jr. (11.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.3 spg, .612 FG, .579 3FG)
C—Sloan Lentfer, 6-7, Fr. (4.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, .485 FG)
 
GNAC'S BACK: Ranked in the NABC Div. II Top 25 poll for the first time this decade, Alaska Anchorage gets the Great Northwest Athletic Conference campaign under way this week with games at old rivals Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific.
 
KNOW THE FOES: Tied for fifth in the GNAC preseason poll, Montana State Billings has alternated losses and wins through its first six games, including a split of its home games (L, 78-67 vs Black Hills State; W, 71-46 vs South Dakota Mines) last week ... the Yellowjackets are led by 6-3 Jr. G Famous Lefthand (13.0 ppg, .579 FG, .526 3FG) and 6-7 Sr. F Daniel Moody (12.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.2 bpg) ... also tied for fifth in the preseason poll, Seattle Pacific is trying to shake off losses to MSU Denver (77-75) and Regis (65-56) last week in Colorado ... the Falcons, who are 2-1 at home thus far, are led by Presason GNAC Player of the Year Shaw Anderson (18.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, .894 FT) and 6-9 So. F Trace Evans (10.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.5 apg, .597 FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs MSUB: UAA leads 50-34 overall, trails 25-16 at MSUB
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 70-61 (2/25/23 at MSUB)
Notes: UAA has won five of the last six, including the last three meetings in Billings ... UAA leads 21-9 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 Pac 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 32 games since the series resumed in 2008, neither has scored more than 90 points.
 
vs SPU: UAA trails 44-42 overall, 28-13 at SPU
Streak: SPU 2
Last: SPU 72-71 (2/23/23 at SPU)
Notes: The road team has won 13 of the last 20 meetings ... 11 of the last 18 games have been decided by five points or fewer, including two OT contests ... 25 of the last 35 games have been decided by 11 points or fewer … SPU leads 28-14 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.
 
GRIZZLIES WRASSLED: The Seawolves remained perfect with a pair of home wins over Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe Adams State last week at the Alaska Airlines Center ... in the first game, Sr. F Sawyer Storms had 17 points (6-8 FG), 7 rebounds and 6 assists as UAA pulled away for a 83-67 decision ... Sr. G Tyson Gilbert collected 16 points (8-8 FT), 5 assists and no turnovers, while Sr. F Jaron Williams added 10 points (5-7 FG) off the bench ... in the rematch, Storms delivered 14 points (5-6 FG, 4-4 FT), 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals as the Seawolves outshot the Grizzlies .510 to .370 and outrebounded them 38-24 in a 66-52 victory ... Williams and Jr. PG Dillon Barrientos had 12 points apiece, and Fr. F Sloan Lentfer notched 6 points and a game-high 9 rebounds to help UAA improve to 6-0 against the Colorado school.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA's 8-0 start is now the best in program history, although many season-opening streaks were stopped by D-I opponents in the Great Alaska Shootout over the years ... combined with the victory in last year's season finale against MSU Billings, the Seawolves' nine-game winning streak is currently the longest in NCAA Div. II, trailing only defending national champion Nova Southeastern (40) ... UAA ranks among the top 15 in the NCAA Div. II national stats in assists per game (4th, 21.1), scoring defense (4th, 55.5), 3FG% defense (9th, .241), FG% defense (14th, .379), A/T ratio (13th, 1.62) and scoring margin (15th, 22.7) ... with at least six games in the books for all 10 GNAC teams, the Seawolves rank in the top half of the league in 18 of 21 statistical categories, including first in scoring defense, scoring margin, 3FG% defense, assists  per game, A/T ratio and rebound margin (+7.4) ... UAA's .279 (12-43) opponent field-goal percentage against Hawaii Pacific was the best against a fellow D-II team since holding Simon Fraser to .273 (15-55) on Jan. 5, 2017 ... the Seawolves are aiming for the program's 37th winning record in 46 seasons of NCAA Div. II existence, and 33rd winning conference record in 42 years in belonging to a league.
 
TYSON TOUGH: The Seawolves' top scorer and No. 7 in the early GNAC stats with 15.1 ppg, Sr. G Tyson Gilbert has started his final season with double figures in seven of the first eight games, including a career-high 27 points (8-14 FG, 5-8 3FG, 6-6 FT) to power the 77-72 win over Chaminade ... the MVP of the GNAC/PacWest Challenge, Gilbert is also 4th in the GNAC with an .885 FT%, 8th with 1.6 steals per game, 1st in A/T ratio (6.3), 2nd in 3FGs per game (2.5) and 20th in 3FG% (.408) ... after two seasons on the sidelines due to an Achilles' injury and heart surgery and Covid, the CSU Pueblo transfer finished as UAA's leading scorer (10.4 ppg) in his 2022-23 comeback campaign, earning honorable mention All-GNAC recognition.
 
STORMS WARNING: Another returning honorable mention All-GNAC performer, Sr. F Sawyer Storms is again displaying his all-around skills with league ranks of 4th in assists (3.8 apg), 11th in rebounding (6.3 rpg), 1st in 3FG% (.579), 8th in FG% (.612), 6th in A/T ratio (2.7) and 13th in steals (1.3 spg) ... UAA's second-leading scorer among active players with 11.3 ppg, Storms has shot better than 50 percent in seven of eight contests thus far, and snagged at least four rebounds in every game  ... the former Chaminade transfer dished 8 assists without a turnover to aid the 77-72 win over his former squad, and posted a season-high 17 points in the 83-67 win over Adams State.
 
'WOLF BITES: The Seawolves have shown impressive depth thus far, getting at least 10 minutes per game from 10 of their 12 active players ... Jr. G Dillon Barrientos ranks 2nd in the early GNAC stats with 4.3 assists per game, along with 8th in A/T ratio (2.7) and 17th in 3FG per game (1.5) ... a transfer from College of the Canyons (Calif.), Barrientos has begun his NCAA career with three double-figure scoring efforts in the first eight games, and four-plus assists in four contests ... Sr. F Jaron Williams scored double figures in back-to-back games last week for the second time in his Seawolf career, shooting 5 of 7 in both contests against Adams State ... the former East Anchorage HS star is also shooting well at .510 FG, .500 3FG (5-10) and .818 FT, while averaging 3.2 assists over the last five games ... Sr. G Dathan Satchell ranks 9th in the GNAC with 1.9 3FGs made per game and 11th in A/T ratio (2.2), while Sr. G Caleb Larsen is 7th in A/T ratio (2.7) and 18th in 3FG% (.421).
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 19th season (20th year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (335-203) 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).
 
2023-24 Seawolf Individual Honors
TYSON GILBERT
GNAC/PacWest Challenge MVP
GNAC Player of the Week, Oct. 30-Nov. 5
DATHAN SATCHELL
Preseason All-GNAC Team
BISHOP TOSI
GNAC/Pac West Challenge All-Tournament Team