THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thur., Dec. 5 – 7:30 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, AK
Saint Martin's (9-2, 0-0 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (5-6, 0-0 GNAC)
&
Sat., Dec. 7 – 5:15 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, AK
Western Oregon (2-7, 0-0 GNAC [Thu. @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2024-25 stats)
G—Dillon Barrientos, 6-1, Sr. (5.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 2.6 apg, 2.6 A/T ratio)
G—Sean Evans, 6-3, Sr. (12.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.8 apg, .348 3FG, .900 FT)
G—Tyler Burraston, 6-4, Jr. (12.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .393 3FG, .824 FT)
F—John McFadden, 6-8, Jr. (3.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.0 spg, 0.6 bpg, .419 FG)
C—Bishop Tosi, 6-6, Jr. (10.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.9 apg, .592 FG, .743 FT)
 
GNAC'S BACK: Fresh off a thrilling last-second victory in its last outing, the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team plays its annual early Great Northwest Athletic Conference openers this week, hosting Saint Martin's (Thur., 7:30 pm) and Western Oregon (Sat., 5:15 pm) at the Alaska Airlines Center.
 
KNOW THE FOES: Saint Martin's has dropped two of its last three, following an 8-0 start, and brings north a 7-2 mark against NCAA Div. II competition ... the Saints are led by Dae'Kwon Watson (14.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.0 apg, .350 3FG) and Diego Trejo-Dalgado (13.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.9 apg, .512 FG) ... ... Western Oregon snapped a four-game losing skid with a 90-83 OT victory over Academy of Art in its last outing ... the Wolves are led by Jason Gallant (18.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.4 apg, .343 3FG) and Anjay Cortez (12.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, .440 FG) as the prep for Thursday's GNAC opener at UAF.
 
THE SERIES...
vs SMU: UAA leads 38-13 overall, 23-5 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 3
Last: UAA 81-76 (3/7/24 at Ellensburg, Wash.)
Notes: The series has featured a season sweep (three by each team) in each of the last six campaigns ... UAA has won seven of the last nine meetings, including last year's 71-68 home win when SMU was ranked No. 1/2 in the national polls ... UAA leads 5-4 at the Alaska Airlines Center ... UAA leads 30-14 in GNAC regular-season meetings ... teams met twice as members of the Pac West (in 1999 and 2001) and four times between 1977-80.
 
vs WOU: UAA leads 24-23 overall, 14-8 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 72-51 (2/24/24 at WOU)
Notes: UAA snapped a series-worst six-game losing skid to WOU with last year's win in Monmouth ... seven of the last eight games have been decided by nine points of fewer, including to OT contests ... UAA leads 24-22 in GNAC regular-season meetings ... WOU leads 5-4 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.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Seawolves earned a hard-fought split with first-time opponent Newberry (S.C.) last week at the Alaska Airlines Center, falling 62-55 on Friday and triumphing 74-73 on Saturday ... in the first game, Jr. F Bishop Tosi posted 15 points and Jr. G Tyler Burraston had 11 points, but UAA was outshot .537 to .300 by the South Athletic Conference club ... in the rematch, Sr. G Sean Evans had 15 points and Burraston nailed the game-winning three-pointer with one second remaining ... Burraston finished with 12 points, 3 assists and no turnovers in the wild win, while Jr. G Hasaan Herrington tallied 10 points, 3 assists and a UAA career-high-tying 6 rebounds.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves are top-3 in the GNAC stats in 12 categories, including first in scoring defense (60.7 ppg), rebounding defense (30.4, 19th nationally), TO forced (17.9), TO margin (+6.2) and A/T ratio (1.7) ... UAA's .724 FG% against Portland Bible broke the program record of .700 (35-50) from an NCAA Tournament victory over UC Riverside on Mar. 7, 1986, while the 27 points allowed to PBC broke the record set two years ago against the same club ... after going 22-11 last year, UAA has earned 16 .500-or-better records in the past 17 seasons, and 37 winning records in 46 seasons of NCAA Div. II existence ... the 2023-24 Seawolves claimed the program's 33rd winning conference record in 42 years belonging to a league ... last year marked the 17th 20-win season for UAA since becoming an NCAA Div. II program in 1977-78.
 
'WOLF BITES: Since transferring north from fellow D-II program Nebraska-Kearney, Sr. G Sean Evans has emerged as the Seawolves' second-leading scorer at 12.0 ppg, notching double figures in eight of 11 contests ... the Colorado native is 8th in the GNAC with 3.8 assists per game and 3rd in A/T ratio at 3.8, aiding the win over Newberry with 15 points and 7 assists ... Jr. G Tyler Burraston has scored double figures in nine of 11 games, with a UAA season-high 23 points in the opener against Warner Pacific, 13 points (4-7 3FG) at Hawaii Pacific, and the game-winning trey against Newberry ... Burraston leads UAA with 12.1 ppg and .393 3FG% (15th GNAC), while leading the conference with 3.0 treys per game ... including an opening double-double against WPU, Jr. F/C Bishop Tosi has scored double figures seven times and snagged at least five rebounds in six of 11 games ... the former Bartlett High star is 17th in the GNAC in rebounding (5.4 rpg), 1st in offensive rebounding (2.5 orpg) and 7th in FG% (.592) ... Jr. G Hasaan Herrington has already tallied career highs in scoring (20), assists (7) and steals (4) this season, nailing a UAA season-high eight free throws (8-10) in the loss at Chaminade ... the former East Anchorage HS star ranks 17th in the GNAC in assists (2.8) and 12th in steals (.538).
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 20th season (21st year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (354-219) has led the Seawolves to six NCAA Tournament bids, including advancement to the 2008 NCAA Div. II Semifinals, and 16 records of .500-or-better in the last 17 seasons … 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 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 (10th season/11th year) and Ryan Engebretsen (4th season/5th year).
 
2024-25 Seawolf Individual Honors
DILLON BARRIENTOS
Preseason All-GNAC Team
BISHOP TOSI
Preseason All-GNAC Team
 
UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2024-25
TEAM
Game
Fewest Points Allowed – 27 vs Portland Bible, Nov. 24 (old record: 28 vs Portland Bible, 12/29/22)
Fewest Points Allowed, 2nd half – 11 vs Portland Bible, Nov. 24 (old record: 13 at Carver Bible, 12/30/99)
Highest FG% – .724 [42-58] vs Portland Bible, Nov. 23 (old record: .700 [35-50] vs UC Riverside, 3/7/86)