THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thu., Feb. 15 – 5:15 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, AK
Simon Fraser (6-18, 4-9 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (15-8, 5-7 GNAC)
&
Sat., Feb. 17 – 5:15 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, AK
Western Washington (14-10, 6-7 GNAC [Thu. vs 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. (8.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.5 apg, .328 3FG, .808 FT)
G—Tyson Gilbert, 6-2, Sr. (14.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.8 spg, .388 3FG, .788 FT)
G—Dillon Barrientos, 6-1, Jr. (10.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.7 apg, 2.2 A/T)
F—Sawyer Storms, 6-7, Sr. (9.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.1 spg, .439 FG, .766 FT)
C—Sloan Lentfer, 6-7, Fr. (3.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, .468 FG)
      -or- Lyman Simmons, 6-10, Fr. (2.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg, .524 FG)
 
HOME STRETCH STARTS AT HOME: Sitting a half-game back of a GNAC Tournament bid with six games remaining, the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team returns to the Alaska Airlines Center this week for critical contests against fellow contenders Simon Fraser and Western Washington ... the top six teams at the conclusion of the regular season qualify for the GNAC Tournament, Mar. 7-9 in Ellensburg, Wash.
 
KNOW THE FOES: Simon Fraser – whose administration fired its entire sports information staff last week – is making a late-season push for a GNAC Tournament berth with wins in three of its last four games, including a road upset of Saint Martin's ... the Red Leafs are led by David Penny (12.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.3 apg, .833 FT) and Elliot Dimaculangan (11.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.5 apg, .810 FT) ... Western Washington heads into its last five games clinging to one of the last two GNAC Tourney berths, a half-game ahead of UAA in the standings ... the league's highest-scoring club at 90.5 ppg, the Vikings are led by Kai Johnson (21.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.1 apg, .519 FG, .415 3FG) and Will Wilson (15.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, .424 3FG, .825 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs SFU: UAA leads 26-2 overall, 13-1 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 5
Last: UAA 71-49 (1/20/24 at SFU)
Notes: UAA has won three straight at home since SFU's lone win in Anchorage, a 67-63 OT decision on Feb. 23, 2019 ... the Seawolves won the first 20 games in series history ... UAA leads 23-2 in GNAC meetings since SFU joined the league in 2010-11 ... teams met twice in UAA's first year of Div. II membership in 1977-78, with UAA winning both at home … teams also met when SFU was a provisional NCAA member in 1999-00 and both teams were in the PacWest.
 
vs WWU: WWU leads 28-19 overall; tied 11-11 in Anchorage
Streak: WWU 1
Last: WWU 92-83 (1/18/24 at WWU)
Notes: A UAA win would Saturday would mean a third consecutive season split ... the road team has won five of the last nine regular-season meetings, including WWU's 79-74 victory in Anchorage last year ... the last 17 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer, including three OT contests ... WWU leads 25-18 in GNAC regular-season games (since 2001-02) ... first and only non-GNAC meeting was an 89-77 UAA home win, Jan. 20, 2000, when both schools were in the PacWest.
 
ROUGH ROAD: The Seawolves came up shy in their bids for road wins last week at Northwest Nazarene (80-74) and Central Washington (75-66) ... in the first game, Sr. G Tyson Gilbert scored 18 points (6-11 FG) and Sr. F Sawyer Storms matched his season-high 17 points (6-10 FG), but UAA was outgunned .548 to .511 in FG%, marking the first loss in seven games this year when shooting at least 50 percent ... in Ellensburg, Gilbert led the way with 16 points and a career-high 5 steals as CWU rallied from a first-half deficit thanks to a 40-24 rebounding advantage ... Sr. G Jaron Williams had 13 points and 5 rebounds, and Sr. G Dathan Satchell tallied 12 points and 2 steals as UAA settled for a season split with both foes.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves are top-25 in the nation in scoring defense (7th, 63.1 ppg), 3FG% defense (15th, .301) and turnover margin (19th, +4.0) and assist/turnover ratio (25th, 1.41) ...  UAA paces the GNAC in scoring defense, assists per game (16.2), TO margin and 3FG% defense, and is top-3 in FG% defense (.428), A/T ratio, and steals (7.9 spg) ... 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 one more victory 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 7th in the GNAC stats with 14.9 ppg, Sr. G Tyson Gilbert has excelled in his final season with double figures in 19 of 23 games, including a career-high 28 points (8-13 FG, 5-7 3FG, 7-7 FT) in the win over top-ranked Saint Martin's, 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 also holds GNAC ranks of 2nd in steals (1.8 spg), 2nd in A/T ratio (3.0), 2nd in 3FGs per game (2.5), 14th in FT% (.788), 12th in 3FG% (.388) and 19th in assists (2.1 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 1,134) 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), 9th in rebounding (6.1 rpg), 17th in steals (1.1 spg) and 16th in FT% (.766) ... UAA's fourth-leading scorer among active players (9.4 ppg), Storms has produced team season highs in 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 3.7 assists per game, along with 8th in A/T ratio (2.2) and 15th in 3FGs per game (1.5) ... a transfer from College of the Canyons (Calif.), Barrientos has averaged 12.3 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 eight times, including six of the last 10 contests ... the former East Anchorage HS star ranks 20th in the league at .461 FG%, along with 10th in steals (1.3 spg) and 18th in assists (2.1 apg) ... 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 12.1 ppg over his last eight games, including a career-high 24 points (8-11 FG, 6-8 3FG) in the 71-68 win over NNU ... Satchell ranks 8th in the GNAC with 2.0 3FGs per game.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 19th season (20th year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (342-211) 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