THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thur., Jan. 25 – 7:30 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Western Oregon (4-11, 1-6 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (14-4, 4-3 GNAC)
&
Sat., Jan. 27 – 7:30 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
#2/1 Saint Martin's (16-1, 6-1 GNAC [Thu. @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023-24 stats)
G—Dathan Satchell, 6-3, Sr. (8.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.8 apg, .330 3FG, .800 FT)
G—Tyson Gilbert, 6-2, Sr. (14.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.7 spg, .365 3FG, .754 FT)
G—Dillon Barrientos, 6-1, Jr. (11.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.9 apg, .345 3FG, 2.4 A/T)
F—Sawyer Storms, 6-7, Sr. (9.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.3 spg, .457 FG, .736 FT)
C—Sloan Lentfer, 6-7, Fr. (4.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, .500 FG)
 
THE HOSTS WITH THE MOST: The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team returns to the Alaska Airlines Center this week for 7:30 pm tips Thursday against Western Oregon and Saturday against nationally top-ranked Saint Martin's ... Saturday's game concludes the first half of the 18-game GNAC schedule ... including this week's games, UAA will play seven of its final 11 regular-season contests at the Alaska Airlines Center.
 
KNOW THE FOES: Western Oregon comes north with three straight losses and a 1-8 mark since Nov. 30, earning its lone GNAC win at Simon Fraser (67-58) on Jan. 6 ... the Wolves are led by Cameron Benzel (13.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.3 bpg, .606 FG) and Jason Gallant (12.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.2 apg, .813 FT) ... riding a nine-game winning streak, GNAC preseason favorite Saint Martin's brings rankings of No. 2 in the NABC Div. II coaches' poll and No. 1 in the D2CSC media poll into this week's games in Alaska ... the rankings are highest ever for SMU and the first time a GNAC team has been No. 1 in either poll since 2015-16 …  the Saints, from Lacey, Wash., are led by Kyle Greeley (16.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg, .818 FT) and Tyke Thompson (12.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, .440 3FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs WOU: UAA leads 23-22 overall, 14-7 in Anchorage
Streak: WOU 5
Last: WOU 74-69, OT (2/18/23 at UAA)
Notes: WOU's current win streak is its longest in the series ... the Wolves have won 10 of the last 12 meetings ... nine of the last 10 games have been decided by 10 points or less, including three overtime contests ... UAA leads 23-21 in GNAC meetings (since 2001-02) ... series tied 4-4 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.
 
vs SMU: UAA leads 35-13 overall, 22-5 in Anchorage
Streak: SMU 2
Last: SMU 82-73 (2/16/23 at UAA)
Notes: The series has featured a season sweep (three by SMU/two by UAA) in each of the last five campaigns ... UAA's last win came by an 85-76 count, Feb. 26, 2022 at home ... series tied 4-4 at the Alaska Airlines Center ... UAA leads 28-14 in GNAC regular-season meetings ... teams met twice as members of the Pac West (in 1999 and 2001) and four times between 1977-80.
 
SEAWOLVES SPLIT BORDER BATTLES: The Seawolves came away 1-1 on their annual trek to Bellingham and Burnaby last week, losing 92-83 at Western Washington and winning 71-49 at Simon Fraser ... in the first game, Sr. G Tyson Gilbert came two points from equaling his career high, scoring 25 points (9-18 FG, 6-7 FT) in a 92-83 loss to the Vikings ... Jr. PG Dillon Barrientos had 13 points and 4 assists and Sr. F Jaron Williams had 14 points and 5 rebounds, but the Seawolves could not protect an early 8-point lead as WWU shot .574 ... on Saturday, UAA controlled things from the outset with a 14-0 lead, getting 21 points (6-12 FG, 3-8 3FG, 6-7 FT) and 10 rebounds from Gilbert in a 71-49 win over the Red Leafs ... Barrientos delivered 18 points (8-13 FG, 2-4 3FG) and 3 assists, and So. G Hasaan Herrington matched his collegiate high with 10 points (3-5 FG, 2-3 3FG, 2-2 FT) in his first start as a Seawolf.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves lead the nation in 3FG% defense at .273 and are No. 3 in scoring defense at 61.6 ppg ... UAA is also top 40 nationally in A/T ratio (18th, 1.46), turnover margin (17th, +4.2), assists per game (32nd, 16.6), scoring margin (33rd, +10.6) and turnovers forced per game (36th, 15.6) ... UAA paces the GNAC in scoring defense, assists per game, TO margin, A/T ratio and 3FG% defense, and is among the top half of the league in 13 of 21 statistical categories ... the Seawolves' 8-0 start was the best in program history, although many season-opening streaks were stopped by D-I opponents in the Great Alaska Shootout over the years ... UAA's .279 (12-43) opponent FG% 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 51-49 win over UT Tyler marked the third-fewest points scored by UAA in a victory, while the four turnovers at Hawaii Pacific were just one more than the program record (3, set twice) ... the Seawolves need just two more victories to clinch the program's 37th winning record in 46 seasons of NCAA Div. II existence ... UAA is also aiming for its 33rd winning conference record in 42 years in belonging to a league.
 
TYSON TOUGH: The Seawolves' top scorer and 6th in the GNAC stats with 14.2 ppg, Sr. G Tyson Gilbert has started his final season with double figures in 15 of the first 18 games, including a career-high 27 points (8-14 FG, 5-8 3FG, 6-6 FT) to power the 77-72 win over Chaminade and his first career double-double (21 pts/10 rebs) in the win at Simon Fraser ... the MVP of the GNAC/PacWest Challenge, Gilbert is also holds GNAC ranks of 3rd in steals (1.7 spg), 2nd in A/T ratio (3.3), 2nd in 3FGs per game (2.3), 16th in FT% (.754), 19th in 3FG% (.365) and 19th in assists (2.2 apg) ... 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 ... Gilbert reached a major milestone with his last basket against NNU on Jan. 13, surpassing 1,000 career points (now 1,047) in his collegiate career.
 
STORMS WARNING: Another returning honorable mention All-GNAC performer, Sr. F Sawyer Storms is again displaying his all-around skills with league ranks of 7th in assists (3.0 apg), 7th in rebounding (6.3 rpg), 11th in steals (1.3 spg) and 19th in FT% (.736) ... UAA's third-leading scorer among active players (9.7 ppg), Storms has produced team season highs in steals (4 at SPU), blocks (3 vs CSUSB) and FTs made (9 at SPU), and snagged at least four rebounds in all but one game ... the 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, getting at least 10 minutes per game from nine of their 12 active players ... Jr. G Dillon Barrientos ranks 3rd in the GNAC with 3.9 assists per game, along with 7th in A/T ratio (2.4) and 17th in 3FGs per game (1.7) ... a transfer from College of the Canyons (Calif.), Barrientos has averaged 14.1 ppg since Dec. 2, posting efforts of 19 points at UAF, 18 points (8-13 FG) at Simon Fraser and 15 points (3-4 3FG), 8 rebounds and 8 assists against Central Washington ... the most effective 'sixth man' in the GNAC this season, Sr. F Jaron Williams has scored double figures six times, including four of the last six contests ... the former East Anchorage HS star ranks 11th in the league at .500 FG%, along with 17th in FT% (.745) and 14th in steals (1.2 spg) ... Williams's 11-of-13 FG (.846) performance at HPU tied for 13th on UAA's single-game accuracy list (min. 10 att.) and was the best since Jacob Lampkin shot 9 of 10 against UAF on Nov. 28, 2017 ... Williams was named the GNAC Player of the Week for his performance in Hawaii, which included his career- and UAA season-high 29 points against HPU ... a Preseason All-GNAC selection, Sr. G Dathan Satchell has snapped out of an early shooting slump to average 17.0 ppg over his last three games, including a career-high 24 points (8-11 FG, 6-8 3FG) in the 71-68 win over NNU ... Satchell holds GNAC ranks of 9th in 3FGs per game (2.0) and 19th in A/T ratio (1.6).
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 19th season (20th year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (341-207) 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 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
JARON WILLIAMS
GNAC Player of the Week, Dec. 9-19
Hoops In Hawaii Classic All-Tournament Team