THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
at Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships
Nicholson Pavilion ­- Ellensburg, Wash. (all times listed as AST)
Thursday, Mar. 7 – Quarterfinals
4:15 pm: #6 Alaska Anchorage (20-9, 10-8) vs #3 Saint Martin's (21-7, 11-7)
6:30 pm: #5 Seattle Pacific (17-14, 10-8) vs #4 Central Washington (18-9, 11-7)
Friday, Mar. 8 – Semifinals
4:15 pm: UAA/SMU winner vs #2 Northwest Nazarene (17-9, 13-5)
7:30 pm: SPU/CWU winner vs #1 Montana State Billings (20-8, 14-4)
Saturday, Mar. 9 – Title Game (winner earns automatic NCAA berth)
6:30 pm: Semifinal winners
 
LIVE VIDEO: Free at youtube.com/GNACsports
LIVE STATS: wildcatsports.com/sidearmstats/mbball
TICKETS: gnacsports.com/gnac/tickets
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023-24 stats)
G—Dathan Satchell, 6-3, Sr. (8.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.5 apg, .319 3FG, .821 FT)
G—Tyson Gilbert, 6-2, Sr. (14.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.9 spg, .376 3FG, .788 FT)
G—Dillon Barrientos, 6-1, Jr. (11.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.7 apg, 2.5 A/T, .336 3FG)
F—Sawyer Storms, 6-7, Sr. (10.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.1 apg, 0.8 bpg, .469 FG, .718 FT)
C—Sloan Lentfer, 6-7, Fr. (4.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.9 apg, .496 FG)
 
GNAC TITLE, TOURNEY BID AT STAKE: Currently outside the top 10 in the West Region rankings, the Seawolves likely need to win this week's GNAC Championships in Ellensburg, Wash., to secure an NCAA Tournament berth … the winners of the GNAC, PacWest Conference and California Collegiate Athletic Association tournaments earn automatic bids to the NCAA Div. II West Regional Championships (Mar. 15-18), along with the next five highest-rated teams … the announcement of the field will be made Sunday at 6 p.m. AST at ncaa.com.
 
KNOW THE FOES: Since reaching as high as No. 1/2 in the national polls, Saint Martin's has finished the regular season with just four wins in its last 10 games, including road setbacks at Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene last week ... the Saints are led by Kyle Greeley (16.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg, .810 FT) and Tyke Thompson (12.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.5 apg, .336 3FG, .744 FT) ... should UAA beat SMU, it would face a Northwest Nazarene squad that enters the tourney with three straight wins and a 9-2 mark since Jan. 25 ... the Nighthawks are led by Tru Allen (13.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.9 apg, GNAC-best 2.6 spg) and Ryzin Bergersen (13.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.9 spg, .335 3FG. 723 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs SMU: UAA leads 37-13 overall, never met on neutral court
Streak: UAA 2
Last: UAA 80-79 (2/22/24 at SMU)
Notes: Only GNAC Tournament meeting came in the inaugural event in 2011, with UAA winning 80-70 in the quarterfinals in Anchorage ... series has featured a regular-season sweep (three by SMU/three by UAA) in each of the last six campaigns ... UAA leads 30-14 in GNAC regular-season meetings ... teams met twice as members of the PacWest (in 1999 and 2001) and four times between 1977-80.
 
vs NNU: UAA leads 26-19 overall, 1-0 on neutral courts
Streak: NNU 1
Last: NNU 80-74 (2/8/24 at NNU)
Notes: Teams have met only once in the postseason, with UAA winning 85-76 in the 2020 GNAC quarterfinals in Seattle ... NNU leads 4-1 in post-pandemic meetings ... the last five games have been decided by a combined 17 points ... the last 22 meetings have been decided by 13 points or less, including three overtime contests ... UAA leads 24-18 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.
 
UAA AT GNACs: The Seawolves have now qualified for 11 of 13 tournaments since the GNAC Championships were born in 2011 ... UAA is 5-10 all-time at the GNAC Championships, with its last win coming in the 2020 semifinals against Seattle Pacific ... UAA has finished runner-up three times, losing to Central Washington (83-71) in 2011, MSU Billings (74-70) in 2012 and Western Washington (81-78) in 2020 … the Seawolves are 2-6 in the quarterfinals, 3-1 in the semifinals and 0-3 in title games.
 
FANTASTIC FINISHES: The Seawolves earned a split of their final regular-season series last week in a pair of games that went down to the wire ... on Thursday, Jr. G Dillon Barrientos had 18 points as UAA nearly erased a 7-point deficit in the final minute before falling 65-64 to Seattle Pacific ... Sr. G Tyson Gilbert had 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and a UAA career-best 7 assists, while Sr. F Sawyer Storms had 14 points (7-9 FG) in just the third home loss this season ... on Saturday, Barrientos had 19 points (5-7 FG, 3-6 3FG, 6-6 FT) as the Seawolves stormed back from a pair of double-digit deficits to knock off league champ MSU Billings 84-78 ... Gilbert scored 17 points, Storms had 15 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists, and Sr. F Jaron Williams delivered 15 points (6-12 FG), 3 assists and 2 steals to help outscore the visitors 25-8 over the final seven minutes.
 
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 claimed their 33rd winning conference record in 42 years in belonging to a league ... this marks the 17th 20-win season for UAA since becoming an NCAA Div. II program in 1977-78 ... the Seawolves are top-30 in the nation in scoring defense (10th, 64.7 ppg), 3FG% defense (26th, .311), turnover margin (14th, +4.2), assist/turnover ratio (16th, 1.48) and assists per game (26th, 16.7) ...  UAA paces the GNAC in scoring defense, assists, TO margin, and A/T ratio, and is top-3 in FG% defense (.432), steals (7.9 spg) and 3FG% defense ... 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 14.9 ppg, Sr. G Tyson Gilbert has excelled in his final season with double figures in 24 of 29 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), 18th in assists (2.2 apg), 3rd in A/T ratio (2.7), 2nd in 3FGs per game (2.4), 12th in FT% (.788) and 14th in 3FG% (.376)  ... 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 1,231) in his collegiate career.
 
STORMS WARNING: Another honorable mention All-GNAC performer, Sr. F Sawyer Storms has again displayed his all-around skills with league ranks of 8th in assists (3.1 apg), 7th in rebounding (6.5 rpg) and 19th in FT% (.718) ... UAA's fourth-leading scorer (10.0 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 (7.8 rpg during current 5-1 stretch) ... 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 ... Jr. G Dillon Barrientos has been on a tear to end the regular season, averaging 17.0 ppg on .590 FG/.550 3FG, 4.0 apg and 1.5 spg over the last four contests, while committing just four turnovers in 123 minutes ... the College of the Canyons transfer ranks 4th in the GNAC with 3.7 assists per game, along with 5th in A/T ratio (2.5) and 11th in 3FGs per game (1.7) ... in addition to his GNAC Player of the Week honor for Feb. 19-25, 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 12 times, including 10 of the last 15 contests ... the former East Anchorage HS star ranks 9th in the league in steals with 1.3 spg, along with 17th in assists (2.3 apg) and 18th in A/T ratio (1.6) ... 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 10.4 ppg over his last 14 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 averaged 11.0 ppg on .556 (20-36) shooting, 4.3 rpg and 1.8 apg during UAA's recent 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 (347-212) 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