THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thu., Feb. 29 – 7:30 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Seattle Pacific (15-14, 8-8 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (19-8, 9-7 GNAC)
&
Sat., Mar. 2 – 7:30 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Montana State Billings (19-7, 13-3 GNAC [Thu. @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com (BOGO deal for military appreciation night)
PROMOTIONS: The first 300 fans Thursday will receive a free Seawolves foam finger, courtesy of Global Credit Union ... the first 1,000 fans Saturday will receive free Seawolves flags, courtesy of Premera.
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023-24 stats)
G—Dathan Satchell, 6-3, Sr. (8.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.4 apg, .318 3FG, .808 FT)
G—Tyson Gilbert, 6-2, Sr. (15.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.9 spg, .375 3FG, .781 FT)
G—Dillon Barrientos, 6-1, Jr. (10.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.5 A/T, .328 3FG)
F—Sawyer Storms, 6-7, Sr. (9.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.0 spg, .454 FG, .753 FT)
C—Sloan Lentfer, 6-7, Fr. (4.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.7 apg, .496 FG)
 
HUGE HOME FINALES: Tied for fourth in the GNAC standings, the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team plays its final regular-season games this week, facing traditional rivals Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings at the Alaska Airlines Center ... the Seawolves need one win to clinch a berth in the GNAC Tournament, which runs Mar. 7-9 in Ellensburg, Wash.
 
KNOW THE FOES: Currently in the sixth and final GNAC Tournament spot, Seattle Pacific reinvigorated its postseason chances with an important home upset last week of MSU Billings (91-80) ... the Falcons feature the GNAC's second-leading scorer in Sr. F Shaw Anderson (21.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, .512 FG, .379 3FG, .904 FT), along with Owen Moriarty (10.9 ppg, .505 FG, .393 3FG, .790 FT) ... Montana State Billings had its 5-game win streak snapped at SPU last week, but can still wrap up the top seed for the GNAC Tournament with one win this weekend or losses by both Saint Martin's and Northwest Nazarene ... the Yellowjackets feature four double-digit scorers, paced by Jalen Tot (15.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.2 apg, .444 3FG, .711 FT) and Daniel Moody (14.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2,7 apg, 1.1 bpg, .500 FG, .783 3FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs SPU: SPU leads 45-42 overall; UAA leads 29-15 in Anch.
Streak: SPU 3
Last: SPU 80-75 (12/2/23 at SPU)
Notes: SPU's current 3-game streak has come by a combined eight points, including last year's 90-87 win in Anchorage ... the road team has won 13 of the last 21 meetings ... 12 of the last 19 games have been decided by five points or fewer, including two OT contests ... 26 of the last 36 games have been decided by 11 points or fewer … SPU leads 29-14 in GNAC regular-season meetings, with six games going to OT … SPU is UAA's 2nd-most common opponent ... series started in UAA's first year of Div. II competition in 1977-78.
 
vs MSUB: UAA leads 50-35 overall, 33-7 in Anchorage
Streak: MSUB 1
Last: MSUB 66-59 (11/30/23 at MSUB)
Notes: UAA has won five of the last seven ... the last five games (post-pandemic) have been decided by 7 points or fewer ... UAA leads 21-10 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 32 games since the series resumed in 2008, neither has scored more than 90 points.
 
FAB FOUR: The Seawolves pulled into a 4th-place tie in the GNAC standings with a pair of clutch road victories last week, running their streak to four a row with an 80-79 upset at No. 17 Saint Martin's and a 72-51 win at Western Oregon ... in the first game, Sr. G Tyson Gilbert had 14 points – including the game-winning free throw with 2.0 seconds showing – as UAA erased a 50-38 deficit with 16 minutes left and ended the game on an 8-0 run ... Jr. G Dillon Barrientos had 14 points (3-5 3FG), 5 assists and 2 steals, while Sr. F Jaron Williams sparked the comeback with 12 points, 4 assists and a career-high 9 rebounds ... Sr. F Sawyer Storms had 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and two critical late 3FGs to help UAA sweep the season series from the Saints ... on Saturday, Barrientos collected 17 points (6-9 FG, 4-6 3FG), 5 assists, 2 steals and no turnovers on his way to GNAC Player of the Week honors, propelling a 72-51 blowout of the Wolves ... Gilbert had 16 points (4-9 3FG), Sr. G Dathan Satchell had 13 points (3-8 3FG) and 6 rebounds, and Storms tallied 9 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists as UAA swept the WOU/SMU road trip for the first time since 2013-14.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA has clinched the program's 16th .500-or-better record in the past 17 seasons, and its 37th winning record in 46 seasons of NCAA Div. II existence ... the Seawolves need one win this week to claim their 33rd winning conference record in 42 years in belonging to a league ... the Seawolves are top-25 in the nation in scoring defense (10th, 64.1 ppg), 3FG% defense (10th, .302), turnover margin (17th, +4.0), assist/turnover ratio (19th, 1.47) and assists per game (22nd, 16.9) ...  UAA paces the GNAC in scoring defense, assists, TO margin, A/T ratio  and 3FG% defense, and is top-3 in FG% defense (.428) and steals (7.9 spg) ... the 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).
 
TYSON TOUGH: The Seawolves' top scorer and 8th in the GNAC stats with 15.0 ppg, Sr. G Tyson Gilbert has excelled in his final season with double figures in 22 of 27 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 (1.9 spg), 5th in A/T ratio (2.5), 2nd in 3FGs per game (2.4), 14th in FT% (.781) and 16th in 3FG% (.375)  ... 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 1,197) 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 (3.2 apg), 8th in rebounding (6.4 rpg), 14th in steals (1.8 spg) and 16th in FT% (.753) ... UAA's fourth-leading scorer (9.7 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 (8.3 rpg during current 4-game win streak) ... the Chaminade transfer dished 8 assists without a turnover to aid the 77-72 win over his former squad, and posted season highs of 17 points in the 83-67 win over Adams State and the 71-69 win over WWU.
 
'WOLF BITES: The Seawolves have shown impressive depth, getting at least 10 minutes per game from nine of their 12 active players ... having earned his first GNAC Player of the Week honor last week, Jr. G Dillon Barrientos ranks 4th in the GNAC with 3.8 assists per game, along with 6th in A/T ratio (2.5) and 14th in 3FGs per game (1.6) ... a transfer from College of the Canyons (Calif.), Barrientos has posted 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 10 times, including eight of the last 13 contests ... the former East Anchorage HS star ranks 8th in the league in steals with 1.3 spg, along with 16th in assists (2.3 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 for a Seawolf since 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 11.0 ppg over his last 12 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 1.8 3FGs per game ... UAA's late surge has been aided by the development of Fr. F/C Sloan Lentfer, who is averaging 11.0 ppg on .556 (20-36) shooting,  4.3 rpg and 1.8 apg during the current four-game win streak ... the second generation Seawolf posted his first two double-figure efforts with 18 points (8-13 FG) and 3 assists to propel the comeback against SFU and 10 points (5-9 FG) in the win at WOU.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 19th season (20th year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (344-211) has now led the Seawolves to .500-plus records in 16 of the last 17 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
DILLON BARRIENTOS
GNAC Player of the Week, Feb. 19-25
JACK CHLUMAK
GNAC All-Academic Team
LUKE DEVINE
GNAC All-Academic Team
TYSON GILBERT
GNAC All-Academic Team
GNAC/PacWest Challenge MVP
GNAC Player of the Week, Oct. 30-Nov. 5
CALEB LARSEN
GNAC All-Academic Team
DATHAN SATCHELL
Preseason All-GNAC Team
SAWYER STORMS
GNAC All-Academic 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