THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thur., Feb. 16 – 5:15 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
#25 Saint Martin's (20-4, 12-2 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (12-11, 6-8 GNAC)
&
Sat., Feb. 18 – 7:30 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Western Oregon (10-11, 7-7 GNAC [Thu. @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE VIDEO: Both games free at youtube.com/@UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: goseawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAMBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2022-23)
G—Dathan Satchell, 6-3, Jr. (9.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.1 spg, .383 3FG)
G—Tyson Gilbert, 6-2, Jr. (10.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.2 spg, .347 3FG, .758 FT)
G—AJ Garrity, 6-3, Sr. (7.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.4 spg, .594 FG, .491 3FG, .778 FT)
G—Lachlan Viney, 6-2, So. (9.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.2 spg, .474 FG, .756 FT)
F—Sawyer Storms, 6-7, Jr. (10.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.5 spg, .580 FG)
 
HITTING THE HOME STRETCH: The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team continues its quest for a winning season and a GNAC Tournament berth this week with its 2022-23 home finales against 25th-ranked Saint Martin's and Western Oregon at the Alaska Airlines Center ... the Seawolves are currently alone in sixth place in the standings, just half a game ahead of Western Washington for the final position to qualify for the GNAC Tournament, Mar. 2-4 in Bellingham, Wash.
 
SENIOR SEND-OFF: Saturday will feature pregame ceremonies to honor the Seawolves' three departing seniors ... AJ Garrity and Vojtech Ruzek are both JC transfers who have spent three years with the program, while local standout Da'Zhon Wyche will also be honored after utilizing his final semester of eligibility last semester.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Ranked No. 25 in the top-25 coaches' poll and No. 23 in the media poll, Saint Martin's brings a seven-game winning streak to Anchorage as it chases a second straight GNAC regular-season title ... entering the week half a game behind MSU Billings for the top spot, the Saints are led by Kyle Greeley (14.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.9 apg, .556 FG, .403 3FG) and Tyke Thompson (11.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.2 apg, .513 FG, .402 3FG, .871 FT) ... a game ahead of UAA at fifth in the standings entering Thursday's contest in Fairbanks, Western Oregon has endured an up-and-down season, embodied by last week's 91-88 triple-OT loss to Billings and an 80-74 win over Seattle Pacific ... the Wolves are led by GNAC Preseason Player of the Year Cameron Cranston (16.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.8 apg, .355 3FG, .821 FT) and Cameron Benzel (11.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg, .604 FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs SMU: UAA leads 35-12 overall, 22-4 in Anchorage
Streak: SMU 1
Last: SMU 100-73 (1/21/23 at SMU)
Notes: SMU snapped a 4-game skid against UAA with its win last month in Lacey and reached the century mark for the first time in 47 meetings ... UAA has won the last two at the Alaska Airlines Center, including 85-76 last season, and leads 4-3 since the arena opened in 2014 ... UAA leads 28-13 in GNAC regular-season meetings ... teams met twice as members of the Pac West (in 1999 and 2001) and four times between 1977-80.
 
vs WOU: UAA leads 23-21 overall, 14-6 in Anchorage
Streak: WOU 4
Last: WOU 84-76 (1/19/23 at WOU)
Notes: A win Saturday for WOU would mark its longest streak in the series ... the Wovles have won nine of the last 11 meetings, including 85-78 last year in Anchorage ... eight of the last nine games have been decided by 10 points or less, including two overtime contests ... UAA leads 23-20 in GNAC meetings (since 2001-02) and 4-3 at the Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014-15) ... first and only non-GNAC meeting was a 91-81 WOU victory in Monmouth, Jan. 28, 1999, when both programs were in the Pac West.
 
BORDER BULLIES: The Seawolves got back into the thick of the GNAC Tourney hunt last week, establishing a three-game win streak with road victories at Simon Fraser (58-51) and Western Washington (89-79) ... in the first game, Sr. G AJ Garrity led the way with 8 points and career bests of 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and no turnovers, helping UAA beat SFU despite not producing a double-figure scorer ... Jr. F Sawyer Storms and Jr. G Tyson Gilbert scored 9 points apiece as UAA grabbed 14 steals and forced 24 SFU turnovers ... on Saturday, Storms had 21 points (6-6 FG, 1-1 3FG, 8-9 FT) and Gilbert delivered 18 points, 4 assists, 3 steals and no turnovers to power a wire-to-wire victory over the Vikings ... Garrity had 11 points and 4 assists, and So. G Lachlan Viney had 15 points as UAA shot .559 from the field.
 
'WOLF BITES: Jr. G Sawyer Storms has been a consistent force since transfering from regional rival Chaminade, producing double-figure scoring 15 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 is the team's leading active scorer at 10.7 ppg, along with GNAC ranks of 7th in steals (1.5 spg), 5th in FG% (.580), 12th in blocks (0.8 bpg) and 11th in assists (2.6 apg) ... Sr. G AJ Garrity ranks 3rd in the GNAC with a .510 3FG%, along with sterling marks of .596 FG% and .781 FT% ... the SoCal native went 6 of 6 from deep over a 5-game stretch Nov. 14-Dec. 3, with two-game totals of 15 points (4-4 FG, 3-3 3FG, 4-5 FT), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals and no turnovers in UAA's wins over Westminster and TAMIU in Fairbanks ... coming off two seasons on the sidelines due to an Achilles' injury and heart surgery, Jr. G Tyson Gilbert has hit his stride, averaging 12.9 ppg since re-entering the starting lineup seven games ago ... the Colorado State-Pueblo transfer is UAA's leading scorer in GNAC play with 10.9 ppg, boosted by 18 points in both games against WWU, 13 points in the home win over CWU and 12 points in the home win over SFU ... with a season-high 3 steals in each game last week, Gilbert now ranks 15th in the GNAC with 1.2 spg, along with 10th in 3FGs per game (1.8) ... Jr. G Dathan Satchell has begun to show the form that made him all-conference performer at Las Positas (Calif.) College, tallying 98 points over the last eight contests and ranking as UAA's leader with 10.6 ppg in GNAC play ... boosted by a career-high 23 points at Saint Martin's, Satchell ranks 2nd in the GNAC with 2.3 3FGs per game, posting multiple treys in 14 of his 19 appearances ... other Seawolves among the current GNAC leaders include Jr. G Jaron Williams at 3rd in steals (1.7 spg) and A/T ratio (2.6), So. G Lachlan Viney at 10th in assists (2.6 apg) and 13th in steals (1.2 spg), and Jr. G Caleb Larsen at 11th in 3FG% (.415).
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves rank among the top 30 in six NCAA Div. II national stats categories, including No. 2 in both turnover margin (+9.0) and turnovers forced per game (20.4) ... UAA is also 4th in steals per game (10.8), 14th in assists per game (17.2), 15th in assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and 30th in 3FGs/gm (9.6), along with top-40 ranks of 35th in fewest turnovers per game (11.4) and 39th in scoring margin (+8.8) ... UAA leads the GNAC stats in turnover margin and steals, while ranking 2nd in assists, A/T ratio and scoring margin ... this year's club is aiming for the 16th winning record in the program's last 17 seasons (the other was .500) and the 37th in 45 seasons of program history ... UAA also boasts 32 winning league records in 40 years of conference play, including 16 of 20 years in the GNAC.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 18th season (19th year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (326-200) has 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 by associate head coach Ryan Orton (8th season/9th year), Jalon McCullough (2nd season) and volunteer assistant Ryan Engebretsen (2nd season/3rd year).
 
2022-23 Seawolf Individual Honors
SAWYER STORMS
Mt. McKinley North Star Bank Invitational All-Tournament Team
DA'ZHON WYCHE
Mt. McKinley North Star Bank Invitational MVP
Preseason All-GNAC Team
 
UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2022-23
TEAM
Game
Fewest Points Allowed — 28 vs Portland Bible, Dec. 29 (old record: 30 vs Lancaster Bible, 11/5/06 & at Carver Bible, 12/30/99)