THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thu., Feb. 8 – 5:30 pm AST – Johnson Sports Center – Nampa, Idaho
Alaska Anchorage (15-6, 5-5 GNAC) at Northwest Nazarene (11-8, 7-4 GNAC)
&
Sat., Feb. 10 – 5:15 pm AST – Nicholson Pavilion – Ellensburg, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage at Central Washington (13-7, 6-5 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday at youtube.com/watch?v=9RvQHfdG8hU
                       Saturday at youtube.com/cwuathletics
LIVE STATS: Thursday at nnusports.com/sidearmstats/mbball
                      Saturday at wildcatsports.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023-24 stats)
G—Dathan Satchell, 6-3, Sr. (8.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.6 apg, .333 3FG, .789 FT)
G—Tyson Gilbert, 6-2, Sr. (14.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.7 spg, .381 3FG, .770 FT)
G—Dillon Barrientos, 6-1, Jr. (10.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.8 apg, .321 3FG, 2.3 A/T)
F—Sawyer Storms, 6-7, Sr. (9.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.2 spg, .427 FG, .746 FT)
C—Sloan Lentfer, 6-7, Fr. (3.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, .465 FG)
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Coming off a three-game homestand, the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team returns to the road this week to face Northwest Nazarene (Thur., 5:30 pm AST) and Central Washington (Sat., 5:15 pm AST) ...  ... with eight games remaining, UAA currently sits in just inside the bubble for the GNAC Tournament (Mar. 7-9 in Ellensburg, Wash.) in sixth place.
 
KNOW THE FOES: Northwest Nazarene enters Thursday at third place in the GNAC standings thanks to three wins in its last four games, including a 70-65 road upset of first-place MSU Billings last week ... the Nighthawks are led by Ryzin Bergersen (13.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.6 spg, .355 3FG) and Tru Allen (12.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.9 apg, GNAC-best 2.4 spg) ... tied for fourth as it prepares to host UAF on Thursday, Central Washington has been a dangerous home team in 2023-24, going 9-1 at Nicholson Pavilion, including an average winning margin of +23.3 ppg in its most recent 3-0 homestand ... the Wildcats are led by Anjaylo Lloyd (14.2 ppg, .380 3FG, .950 FT) and Samaad Hector (13.4 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.4 bpg, .510 FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs NNU: UAA leads 26-18 overall; NNU leads 13-8 in Nampa
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 71-68 (1/13/24 at UAA)
Notes: UAA snapped a three-game NNU streak with last month's win in Anchorage ... the Nighthawks last four games have been decided by a combined 11 points ... the road team has won two straight, following a 10-game win streak for the home team ... the last 21 meetings have been decided by 13 points or less, including three overtime contests ... UAA leads 24-17 in GNAC regular-season meetings ... first and only meeting as non-GNAC members was a 93-66 UAA home win, Feb. 3, 2001, when both teams were in the PacWest Conference.
 
vs CWU: UAA leads 27-21; CWU leads 14-10 in Ellensburg
Streak: UAA 3
Last: UAA 75-61 (1/11/24 at UAA)
Notes: UAA has won nine of the last 12 meetings ... UAA won 90-72 in last year's CWU 'home' game, which was played in Moses Lake, Wash., due to the renovation of Nicholson Pavilion ... four of the last 13 contests have gone to overtime ... UAA leads 24-18 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02) ... first meeting was in Feb. 1979, although programs did not play again until Jan. 2000.
 
ALL GOOD THINGS... The Seawolves suffered their first home loss to their in-state rival since Feb. 2003 when Alaska Fairbanks earned a 65-49 victory at the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday ... Jr. PG Dillon Barrientos led UAA with 16 points and Sr. G Dathan Satchell had 11 points and 6 rebounds, but the visitors earned a 51-34 advantage on the boards and held the Seawolves to .279 shooting ... the result snapped a 19-game UAA home win streak in the series that spanned 7,651 days, and was the first UAF win in nine road games at the Alaska Airlines Center.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves are top-10 in the nation in scoring defense (4th, 61.8 ppg) and 3FG% defense (8th, .292) ... UAA is also top 40 nationally in A/T ratio (23rd, 1.43), turnover margin (18th, +4.0), assists per game (35th, 16.4) and turnovers forced per game (34th, 15.5) ... UAA paces the GNAC in scoring defense, assists per game, TO margin and 3FG% defense, and is top-3 in FG% defense (.419), A/T ratio (1.4) 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 just 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 14.7 ppg, Sr. G Tyson Gilbert has started his final season with double figures in 17 of the first 21 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 (1.7 spg), 2nd in A/T ratio (3.1), 2nd in 3FGs per game (2.4), 14th in FT% (.770), 14th in 3FG% (.381) and 18th 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 1,100) 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 (6.3 rpg), 12th in steals (1.2 spg) and 15th in FT% (.746) ... UAA's fourth-leading scorer among active players (9.2 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 3.8 assists per game, along with 6th in A/T ratio (2.3) and 13th in 3FGs per game (1.6) ... a transfer from College of the Canyons (Calif.), Barrientos has averaged 13.1 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 seven times, including five of the last nine contests ... the former East Anchorage HS star ranks 20th in the league at .466 FG%, along with 11th in steals (1.3 spg) and 18th in assists (2.2) ... 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 13.0 ppg over his last six games, including a career-high 24 points (8-11 FG, 6-8 3FG) in the 71-68 win over NNU ... Satchell ranks 7th 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 (342-209) 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