THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Sat., Jan. 18 – 3 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Alaska Fairbanks (8-7, 4-2 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (10-9, 3-3 GNAC)
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball
PROMOTIONS: Saturday is the Seawolves Bounce Back Charity Game, sponsored by JustServe. Fans receive free admission with the donation of 'soft' items for Clare House and Catholic Social Services. Needed items include socks, mittens/gloves (adult & child), winter coats (adult & child), toilet paper, paper towels, new bed pillows, new twin sheet sets and new twin comforters.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2024-25 stats)
G—Sean Evans, 6-3, Sr. (12.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.2 apg, .356 3FG, .886 FT)
G—Tyler Burraston, 6-4, Jr. (13.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, .416 3FG, .778 FT)
G—Dillon Barrientos, 6-1, Sr. (5.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.0 spg)
F—Hasaan Herrington, 6-3, Jr. (8.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, .536 FG, .755 FT)
F—Bishop Tosi, 6-6, Jr. (10.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.4 apg, .540 FG, .672 FT)
 
RIVALRY RESUMES: The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team concludes a three-game homestand with a Saturday 3 p.m. tip against its oldest rival this week, facing Alaska Fairbanks at the Alaska Airlines Center ... with exactly two-thirds of the GNAC schedule remaining, the contest could be critical to each team's league tournament chances (top 6 qualify for the GNAC Tournament, Mar. 6-8 in Lacey, Wash.).
 
KNOW THE 'NOOKS: Alaska Fairbanks has won three of its last four – including Saturday's 71-62 win over previously one-loss NW Nazarene – to rise to fourth in the GNAC standings at the one-third pole of the league season ... the Nanooks are led by Chris Lee (16.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.6 apg, .368 3FG) and Isaiah Saams-Hoy (16.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.6 spg, .537 FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs UAF: UAA leads 87-26 overall, 50-6 in Anchorage
Streak: UAF 1
Last: UAF 65-49 (2/3/24 at UAA)
Notes: Teams have split the last two regular-season series, with the road team prevailing in each game last season ... UAA's loss last February ended a 19-game home win streak against UAF ... 12 of the last 24 games have been decided by six points or less, or in overtime … UAA leads 34-9 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02) and 8-1 at the Alaska Airlines Center … teams have met at least twice each year (with the exception of 2020-21, when neither played) since both became NCAA Div. II programs in 1977-78.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Seawolves saw their five-game winning streak end with a pair of losses to GNAC frontrunners Northwest Nazarene (71-63) and Central Washington (64-52) at the Alaska Airlines Center last week ... against the Nighthawks, Sr. G Sean Evans had 17 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds, while Sr. G Dillon Barrientos tallied 17 points and 3 steals in a game that featured seven ties and 12 lead changes ... in a rematch of last season's GNAC Tournament title game Saturday, Jr. F Bishop Tosi delivered 19 points and Jr. G/F Hasaan Herrington had 16 points, 6 rebounds and a career-high 4 steals, but UAA was outshot .531 to .339 and outrebounded 38-22 by the Wildcats.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA holds top-10 NCAA Div. II national ranks in assist/turnover ratio (5th, 1.75), scoring defense (7th, 61.3) and assists per game (9th, 19.2), plus 18th in turnover margin (+5.1) and 21st in fewest fouls per game (14.2) and ... the Seawolves are top-3 in the GNAC stats in 12 categories, including first in scoring defense, rebounding defense (30.8), turnovers forced (16.1), TO margin, assists and A/T ratio ... 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 Portland Bible and Johnson & Wales both broke the record set two years ago against Portland Bible ... 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 12.9 ppg, notching double figures in 13 contests and scoring at least six points in every game ... after going for a career-high 32 points Jan. 2 at Simon Fraser and capturing his first GNAC Player of the Week award, the Colorado native is 5th in the GNAC with 4.2 assists per game, 3rd in A/T ratio at 2.5, and 19th in scoring ... Jr. G Tyler Burraston had scored double figures in 15 of 19 games, capping December with MVP honors at the Hoops In Hawaii Classic ... the Utah native and Green River (Wash.) College transfer matched his season-high 23 points in the victory over CSU-Pueblo and hit the game-winning trey against Newberry with one second left ... Burraston leads UAA with 13.2 ppg (18th GNAC) and a .416 3FG% (8th GNAC), while leading the conference and ranking 14th nationally with 3.4 treys per game ... ... Jr. F Bishop Tosi has scored double figures 13 times and snagged at least five rebounds in 12 of 19 games, ranking as UAA third-leading scorer with 10.7 ppg ... the former Bartlett High star is 14th in the GNAC in rebounding (5.9 rpg), 2nd in offensive rebounding (2.9 orpg) and 7th in FG% (.540) ... one of seven Alaskans on the Seawolf roster, Jr. G Hasaan Herrington has blossomed into one of the GNAC's most well-rounded players, averaging 8.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.6 apg and 1.4 spg, while shooting .536 from the field and .755 at the FT line ... the former East Anchorage HS star has scored double figures in a career-best four consecutive games, while improving his GNAC ranks to 16th in assists, 9th in FG% and 13th in steals ... a preseason All-GNAC pick, Sr. G Dillon Barrientos has recovered from a slow start to average 8.8 points over the last five games and post a 25/3 A/T ratio since Dec. 5 ... the SoCal native ranks 14th in the GNAC with 2.8 apg.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 20th season (21st year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (359-222) 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
TYLER BURRASTON
Hoops In Hawaii Classic MVP
SEAN EVANS
GNAC Player of the Week, Dec. 30-Jan. 5
BISHOP TOSI
GNAC Player of the Week, Dec. 2-8
Preseason All-GNAC Team
 
UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2024-25
TEAM
Game
Fewest Points Allowed – 27 vs Portland Bible, Nov. 24; and vs Johnson & Wales, Dec. 20 (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)