THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Sat., Jan. 6 – 5:15 pm AST – Patty Center – Fairbanks, Alaska
Alaska Anchorage (10-3, 0-2 GNAC) at Alaska Fairbanks (3-7, 1-1 GNAC)
 
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/@TheAlaskaNanooks
LIVE STATS: AlaskaNanooks.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023-24 stats)
G—Dathan Satchell, 6-3, Sr. (7.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.0 apg, 2.0 A/T)
G—Tyson Gilbert, 6-2, Sr. (13.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.8 spg, .375 3FG, .769 FT)
G—Dillon Barrientos, 6-1, Jr. (9.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.6 A/T)
F—Sawyer Storms, 6-7, Sr. (10.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.3 spg, .458 FG, .405 3FG)
C—Lyman Simmons, 6-10, Fr. (3.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, .515 FG)
 
BACK TO THE GNAC: After concluding a 10-1 non-league slate, the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team returns to Great Northwest Athletic Conference play for the remainder of the season, starting with a Saturday 5:15 pm rivalry showdown against Alaska Fairbanks at UAF's Patty Center.
 
KNOW THE 'NOOKS: Returning home for the first time since Nov. 11, Alaska Fairbanks has gone 2-2 since a suffering a 5-game skid ... the Nanooks, who own a GNAC road win over Seattle Pacific, are led by Abdul Mohamed (13.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.4 apg, .765 FT) and Paul Johnson (8.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg, .325 3FG, .769 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs UAF: UAA leads 86-25 overall, 36-19 in Fairbanks
Streak: UAF 1
Last: UAF 89-79 (1/29/23 at UAF)
Notes: UAA has won 29 of the last 33 meetings, although UAF has taken two of the last three ... UAA has won five of the last seven at UAF ... eleven of the last 22 games have been decided by six points or less, or in overtime … UAA leads 33-8 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02) … teams have met at least twice each year (with the exception of 2020-21, when neither played) since both became NCAA Div. II programs in 1977-78.
 
'WOLVES TAKE SPLIT DECISION: The Seawolves got into three proverbial slugfests Dec. 17-19 at the Hoops in Hawaii Classic, earning a 2-1 record as each contest went down to the final moments ... in the first game, Sr. G Tyson Gilbert and Jr. PG Dillon Barrientos delivered 11 points apiece to help outlast Texas-Tyler 51-49, marking the third-fewest points ever scored by UAA in a victory ... Sr. F Jaron Williams and Fr. F Sloan Lentfer added 9 points each as UAA erased a 34-20 deficit with 17 minutes remaining ... the next night, Sr. G Dathan Satchell had 16 points (6-12 FG), 4 assists and 2 steals, but the Seawolves went cold late in a 70-64 setback to defending West Region champ and 9th-ranked Cal State San Bernardino ... Gilbert had 12 points and 3 steals, while Williams chipped in 9 points on his way to all-tournament honors ... in the finale, Williams destroyed his old career high and established a UAA season best with 29 points (11-13 FG, 4-5 3FG, 3-4 FT) – along with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, no turnovers and 3 steals – to power a 77-72 true road victory over Hawaii Pacific ... Barrientos had 11 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and one turnover in 37 minutes, and Sr. G Caleb Larsen produced a clutch 9 points (3-4 FG) off the bench as UAA snapped HPU's 7-game win streak and committed only four team turnovers – just one off the school record.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves rank among the top 25 in four NCAA Div. II national stats categories – 2nd in scoring defense (60.1 ppg), 3rd in 3FG% defense (.260), 17th in A/T ratio (1.5) and 23rd in turnover margin (+4.2) – and are 26th with 17.2 assists per game ... 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 11 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 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 10th in the GNAC stats with 13.5 ppg, Sr. G Tyson Gilbert has started his final season with double figures in 11 of the first 13 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 14th in the GNAC in FT% (.769), 3rd in steals (1.8 spg) and 3rd in 3FGs per game (2.3), while leading the league with a 4.5 A/T ratio ... 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 is honing in on another milestone as he currently stands at 974 career points in his time at both CSUP and UAA.
 
STORMS WARNING: Another returning honorable mention All-GNAC performer, Sr. F Sawyer Storms is again displaying his all-around skills with league ranks of 8th in assists (3.2 apg), 9th in rebounding (6.5 rpg), 28th in scoring (10.8 ppg), 15th in 3FG% (.405) and 11th in steals (1.3 spg) ... UAA's second-leading scorer among active players, 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 every game (7.0 rpg over last seven) ... 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 10 of their 12 active players ... Jr. G Dillon Barrientos ranks 4th in the GNAC with 3.8 assists per game, along with 10th in A/T ratio (2.6) ... a transfer from College of the Canyons (Calif.), Barrientos has begun his NCAA career with six double-figure scoring efforts in the first 13 games, and four-plus assists in five contests ... Sr. F Jaron Williams scored double figures in back-to-back games for the second time in his Seawolf career against Adams State (5-7 FG in both games), and followed with 17 total points on 6-of-11 accuracy in the road losses at MSUB and SPU ... the former East Anchorage HS star is among seven Seawolves currently shooting plus-.500 FG, ranking 13th in the league at .528 ... 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.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 19th season (20th year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (337-206) 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