THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thursday, Jan. 23 – 4:15 pm AST – Brougham Pavilion – Seattle, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage (10-10, 3-4 GNAC) at Seattle Pacific (7-11, 3-4 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Jan. 25 – Noon AST – Alterowitz Gymnasium – Billings, Mont.
Alaska Anchorage at Montana State Billings (11-9, 2-5 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday at youtube.com/watch?v=E9dYfH-DFMI
                       Saturday at youtube.com/watch?v=2zcIaitESGE
LIVE STATS: Thursday at spufalcons.com/sidearmstats/mbball
                      Saturday at msubsports.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2024-25 stats)
G—Sean Evans, 6-3, Sr. (12.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.3 apg, .365 3FG, .886 FT)
G—Tyler Burraston, 6-4, Jr. (13.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.4 apg, .423 3FG, .778 FT)
G—Dillon Barrientos, 6-1, Sr. (5.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.9 apg)
F—Hasaan Herrington, 6-3, Jr. (9.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.7 apg, .520 FG, .736 FT)
F—Bishop Tosi, 6-6, Jr. (11.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.4 apg, .544 FG, .662 FT)
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team begins a stretch with five of next seven games on the road, facing traditional rivals Seattle Pacific on Thursday (4:15 pm AST) and Montana State Billings (noon AST) on Saturday ... with all three teams within a game in the current standings, both contests will be critical in qualifying for the GNAC Tournament (top 6 qualify), Mar. 6-8 in Lacey, Wash.
 
KNOW THE FOES: Going through an up-and-down campaign, Seattle Pacific had a three-game win streak snapped last week with road losses to Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene ... picked 7th in the GNAC coaches' poll and currently tied with UAA for 5th in the standings, the Falcons are led by Owen Moriarty (15.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg, .353 3FG, .875 FT) and Jaxon Nap (10.7 ppg, 9.5 rpg, .539 FG) ... chosen 2nd in the preseason coaches' poll and coming off the 2023-24 GNAC regular-season title, MSU Billings enters Thursday's game against UAF with a 5-game losing skid ... the Yellowjackets are led by Jalen Tot (16.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.2 apg, 2.0 spg, .323 3FG) and Kael Robinson (14.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.2 bpg, .502 FG, .797 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs SPU: SPU leads 46-42 overall, 29-13 in Seattle
Streak: SPU 4
Last: SPU 65-64 (2/29/24 at UAA)
Notes: SPU's current win streak has come by a grand total of 10 points ... the road team has won 14 of the last 22 meetings, although the Falcons have won two straight in Seattle ... 13 of the last 20 games have been decided by five points or fewer, including two OT contests ... 27 of the last 37 games have been decided by 11 points or fewer … SPU leads 30-14 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 51-35 overall, trails 26-16 in Billings
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 84-78 (3/2/24 at UAA)
Notes: Teams have split the past two season series, with both teams winning at home last year ... UAA leads 22-10 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 34 games since the series resumed in 2008, neither has scored more than 90 points.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Seawolves got a career-high-tying 23 points (7-14 3FG) from Jr. G Tyler Burraston, but fell victim to a late Alaska Fairbanks comeback to fall 76-74 on Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center ... UAA also got 17 points (5-8 FG), 6 rebounds, 3 assists and no turnovers from Jr. F Bishop Tosi, plus 11 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists from Jr. G/F Hasaan Herrington in the loss.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA holds top-10 NCAA Div. II national ranks in assist/turnover ratio (4th, 1.82), scoring defense (7th, 62.0) and assists per game (9th, 19.4), along with ranks of 17th in turnover margin (+5.2) and 16th in fewest fouls per game (14.0) ... the Seawolves are top-3 in the GNAC stats in 11 categories, including first in scoring defense, turnovers forced (15.8), 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 12.8 ppg, notching double figures in 14 contests and scoring at least six points in every game ... the Colorado native is 4th in the GNAC with 4.3 assists per game, 3rd in A/T ratio at 2.6, 20th in scoring and 20th in 3FG% (.365) ... Evans was the GNAC Player of the Week for Dec. 30-Jan. 5 after going for a career- and UAA season-high 32 points at Simon Fraser ... Jr. G Tyler Burraston has scored double figures in 16 of 20 games, earning MVP honors at the Hoops In Hawaii Classic and averaging 17.0 ppg in road wins over WWU and SFU ... 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 13.7 ppg (15th GNAC) and a .423 3FG% (8th GNAC), while leading the conference and ranking 7th nationally with 3.6 treys per game ... ... Jr. F Bishop Tosi has scored double figures 14 times and snagged at least five rebounds in 13 of 20 games, ranking as UAA third-leading scorer with 11.1 ppg ... the former Bartlett High star is 11th in the GNAC in rebounding (5.9 rpg), 2nd in offensive rebounding (2.8 orpg) and 7th in FG% (.544) ... 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 9.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.7 apg and 1.4 spg, while shooting .520 from the field and .736 at the FT line ... the former East Anchorage HS star has scored double figures in a career-best five consecutive games, while improving his GNAC ranks to 17th in assists, 10th in FG% and 15th in steals ... Sr. G Dillon Barrientos ranks 14th in the GNAC with 2.9 assists per game, dishing multiple dimes in all but one game since Nov. 29.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 20th season (21st year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (359-223) 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)