THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thur., Feb. 23 – 4:15 pm AST – Brougham Pavilion – Seattle, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage (12-13, 6-10 GNAC) at Seattle Pacific (15-10, 10-6 GNAC)
&
Sat., Feb. 25 – 3:15 pm AST – Alterowitz Gymnasium – Billings, Mont.
Alaska Anchorage at Montana State Billings (19-7, 13-3 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday at youtube.com/watch?v=RFwxeBUx2gg
                       Saturday at youtube.com/watch?v=BuZ5NTxdXfU
LIVE STATS: Thursday at spufalcons.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
                      Saturday at msubsports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAMBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2022-23)
G—Dathan Satchell, 6-3, Jr. (9.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.0 spg, .384 3FG)
G—Tyson Gilbert, 6-2, Jr. (10.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.2 spg, .356 3FG, .767 FT)
G—AJ Garrity, 6-3, Sr. (8.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.3 spg, .563 FG, .478 3FG, .744 FT)
G—Lachlan Viney, 6-2, So. (9.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.1 spg, .462 FG, .760 FT)
F—Sawyer Storms, 6-7, Jr. (10.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.4 spg, .566 FG)
 
CLOSING ACT: The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team concludes the regular season this week with games at third-place Seattle Pacific (Thur., 4:15 AST) and second-place Montana State Billings (Sat., 3:15 AST) ... the Seawolves will need to pull upsets in both of the road contests to secure a winning record.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Seattle Pacific comes into the week needing at least one victory to clinch the No. 3 seed for the GNAC Tournament ... four of SPU's last five have been decided by five points or less ... the Falcons are led by Shaw Anderson (19.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.6 apg, .546 FG, .414 3FG, .846 FT) and Zack Paulsen (12.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.3 apg, .398 3FG, .892 FT) ... one game behind Saint Martin's for the regular-season league title, Montana State Billings has already clinched one of the two quarterfinal byes for the GNAC Tourney ... the Yellowjackets are led by Carrington Wiggins (18.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.8 spg, .922 FT) and Bilal Shabazz (12.7 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 2.5 apg).
 
THE SERIES...
vs SPU: SPU leads 43-42 overall, 27-13 in Seattle
Streak: SPU 1
Last: SPU 90-87 (12/3/22 at UAA)
Notes: The road team has won 13 of the last 19 meetings, including UAA's 88-75 win last March in the GNAC Tourney quarterfinals ... 10 of the last 17 games have been decided by five points or fewer, including two OT contests ... 24 of the last 34 games have been decided by 11 points or fewer … SPU leads 27-14 in GNAC regular-season meetings, with six games going to OT … SPU is UAA's 2nd-most common opponent (85 meetings) ... series started in UAA's first year of Div. II competition in 1977-78..
 
vs MSUB: UAA leads 49-34 overall, trails 25-15 in Billings
Streak: MSUB 1
Last: MSUB 81-77, OT (12/1/22 at UAA)
Notes: MSUB's win in December snapped a four-game UAA win streak in the series ... UAA has won two straight and three of the last four in Billings, including 68-61 last season ... UAA leads 20-9 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 31 games since the series resumed in 2008, neither has scored more than 90 points.
 
SEAWOLVES DROP HOME FINALES: The Seawolves battled to another pair of single-digit defeats in their home finales last week at the Alaska Airlines Center, falling 82-73 to Saint Martin's on Thursday and 74-69 in overtime to Western Oregon on Saturday ... in the first game, Jr. G Tyson Gilbert scored 18 points and Jr. F Jaedon Bradley added 14 points (7-9 FG) and 5 rebounds, but defending GNAC champ Saint Martin's used a 41-27 rebounding advantage to secure the victory ... Sr. G AJ Garrity had 14 points and Jr. F Jaron Williams chipped in 6 points, 5 rebounds and a career-high-tying 5 assists against the Saints ... on senior night, Gilbert and So. G Lachlan Viney scored 13 points apiece, but the visitors from Monmouth used a plus-15 rebounding edge and scored the first six points of overtime to secure the win ... Gilbert also established a UAA career high with 6 assists (against no turnovers), while Bradley added 10 points (4-5 FG, 2-2 3FG), and Jr. F Sawyer Storms had 9 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.
 
'WOLF BITES: Coming off two seasons on the sidelines due to an Achilles' injury and heart surgery, Jr. G Tyson Gilbert has hit his stride, averaging 13.4 ppg since re-entering the starting lineup Jan. 12 ... the Colorado State-Pueblo transfer is UAA's leading active scorer with 10.6 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 against WWU and SFU recently, Gilbert now ranks 16th in the GNAC with 1.2 spg, along with 7th in 3FGs per game (1.9) ... 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 second-leading scorer at 10.4 ppg, along with GNAC ranks of 8th in steals (1.4 spg), 6th in FG% (.566), 12th in blocks (0.8 bpg) and 10th in assists (2.8 apg) ... Sr. G AJ Garrity ranks 2nd in the GNAC with a .478 3FG%, along with a sterling .563 FG% ... the SoCal native went scored double figures for the seventh time this season with 14 points last week against Saint Martin's, and he recently powered UAA's 58-51 win at Simon Fraser with 8 points and career highs of 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals ... Garrity also holds GNAC ranks of 10th in steals (1.3 spg) and 9th in A/T ratio (1.9) ... Jr. G Dathan Satchell has shown some of the form that made him an all-conference performer at Las Positas (Calif.) College, tallying last least 9 points in 13 of his 21 appearances ... 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 15 times ... other Seawolves among the current GNAC leaders include Jr. G Jaron Williams at 6th in steals (1.5 spg) and 2nd in A/T ratio (2.8), So. G Lachlan Viney at 11th in assists (2.7 apg) and 18th in steals (1.1 spg), Jr. G Caleb Larsen at 14th in 3FG% (.406) and Jr. F Jaedon Bradley at 18th in 3FG% (.391).
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves rank among the top 30 in five NCAA Div. II national stats categories, including No. 2 in both turnover margin (+8.6) and turnovers forced per game (20.0) ... UAA is also 5th in steals per game (10.3), 13th in assists per game (17.3) and 13th in assist/turnover ratio (1.5), along with 32nd in 3FGs/gm (9.6) and 37th in fewest turnovers per game (11.4) ... 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 ... this will mark 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.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 18th season (19th year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (326-202) 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
LUKE DEVINE
GNAC All-Academic Team
AJ GARRITY
GNAC All-Academic Team
TYSON GILBERT
GNAC All-Academic Team
CALEB LARSEN
GNAC All-Academic Team
VOJTECH RUZEK
CSC Academic All-District Team
GNAC All-Academic Team
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)