THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thu., Jan. 9 – 7 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Northwest Nazarene (10-1, 3-0 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (10-7, 3-1 GNAC)
&
Sat., Jan. 11 – 7 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Central Washington (8-5, 2-1 GNAC [Thu. @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2024-25 stats)
G—Sean Evans, 6-3, Sr. (12.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, .348 3FG, .903 FT)
G—Tyler Burraston, 6-4, Jr. (14.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, .419 3FG, .778 FT)
G—Zach Ibbetson, 6-3, So. (6.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.5 apg, .309 3FG)
F—Hasaan Herrington, 6-3, Jr. (8.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.8 apg, .551 FG, .762 FT)
F—Bishop Tosi, 6-6, Jr. (10.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.3 apg, .583 FG, .679 FT)
 
HOME FROM THE HOLIDAYS: Making their first appearances at the Alaska Airlines Center since Dec. 7, the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team takes a five-game winning streak into home dates with Northwest Nazarene (Thur., 7 pm) and Central Washington (Sat., 7 pm) this week ... both contests should go a long way toward deciding the six-game GNAC Tournament field in March, with UAA and both foes currently sitting among the top six.
 
KNOW THE FOES: One of two unbeaten teams remaining in GNAC play, Northwest Nazarene brings a seven-game winning streak north, suffering its lone loss with an 84-82 OT setback against Westmont on Nov. 22 ... picked third in the GNAC preseason poll, the Nighthawks are led by Kyle Dickson (17.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg, .500 FG) and Ryzin Bergersen (11.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.9 spg) ... Central Washington has recovered from an 0-2 start to win eight of its last 11, including GNAC victories over Simon Fraser and Western Washington ... picked atop the GNAC coaches' poll in October, the Wildcats are led by Garrett Anderson (14.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg, .370 3FG, .811 FT) and Cavin Holden (14.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.2 apg, .421 3FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs NNU: UAA leads 27-19 overall, 17-5 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 64-63 (3/8/24 at CWU)
Notes: The last meeting came in the 2024 GNAC Tournament semifinals in Ellensburg, Wash., ... teams have split the last 18 meetings ... the last six meetings have been decided by six points or less ... the home team has won 12 of the last 13 regular-season meetings ... the last 23 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 Pac West Conference.
 
vs CWU: UAA leads 27-23 overall, 16-6 in Anchorage
Streak: CWU 2
Last: CWU 78-69 (3/9/24 at CWU)
Notes: The last meeting came in the 2024 GNAC Tournament title game in Ellensburg ... teams have split the last eight meetings ... UAA has won seven straight at the Alaska Airlines Center since CWU took a 77-68 victory in the arena's inaugural season in 2014-15 ... UAA leads 24-19 in GNAC regular-season meetings ... first meeting was in Feb. 1979, although programs did not play again until Jan. 2000.
 
ROAD WARRIORS: The Seawolves ran their winning streak to five and improved to 8-2 since Nov. 23 with clutch GNAC road victories last week over Simon Fraser and Western Washington ... in the first game, Sr. G Sean Evans scored a career-high 32 points (10-17 FG, 4-9 3FG, 8-9 FT) and dished 6 assists to help UAA overcome SFU for the 28th time in 30 meetings, 94-87 ... Jr. G Tyler Burraston had 18 points (6-13 3FG), Jr. G Hasaan Herrington delivered 11 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, and Jr. F Jesse Stines had career highs of 10 points and 7 rebounds as UAA nailed a season-high 17 three-pointers on .459 accuracy ... two nights later in Bellingham, Burraston scored 16 points (4-7 3FG) and grabbed 8 rebounds to pace a 71-67 win over the Vikings ... Herrington was huge again with 14 points (5-5 FG, 2-2 3FG, 2-2 FT) and 6 rebounds, while Evans had 12 points (5-9 FG, 2-4 3FG) on his way to GNAC Player of the Week honors ... UAA also got a big lift from Stines again, who scored all seven of his points in the final five minutes and made a critical steal with 30 seconds remaining.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA holds top-10 NCAA Div. II national ranks in scoring defense (6th, 60.5), assists per game (7th, 19.7) and assist/turnover ratio (7th, 1.74) ... the Seawolves are top-3 in the GNAC stats in 13 categories, including first in scoring defense, rebounding defense (30.2), turnovers forced (16.1), TO margin (+4.8), 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 12 of 17 contests ... after going for a career-high 32 points and Simon Fraser and capturing his first GNAC Player of the Week award, the Colorado native is 6th in the GNAC with 4.0 assists per game, 3rd in A/T ratio at 2.4, and 19th in scoring ... Jr. G Tyler Burraston has scored double figures in 10 straight games and 15 of 17 overall, capping December with MVP honors at the Hoops In Hawaii Classic ... Burraston matched his own UAA season-high 23 points in the victory over CSU-Pueblo and hit the game-winning trey against Newberry with one second left, averaging 16.4 ppg over UAA's current 8-2 stretch ... Burraston leads UAA with 14.4 ppg (12th GNAC) and a .419 3FG% (8th GNAC), while leading the conference and ranking 7th nationally with 3.65 treys per game ... ... Jr. F Tosi has scored double figures 11 times and snagged at least five rebounds in 11 of 17 games, ranking as UAA third-leading scorer with 10.2 ppg ... the former Bartlett High star is 13th in the GNAC in rebounding (5.9 rpg), 1st in offensive rebounding (2.8 orpg) and 4th in FG% (.583), shooting 26 of 43 over the last seven games ... 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 8.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.8 apg and 1.2 spg, while shooting .551 from the field and .762 at the FT line ... the former East Anchorage HS star has improved his GNAC ranks to 15th in assists, 6th in FG% and 19th in steals ... other Seawolves in the GNAC top-20 stats leaders are Sr. G Dillon Barrientos (16th, 2.7 apg) and So. G Zach Ibbetson (20th, 1.5 3FG/gm).
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 20th season (21st year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (359-220) 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)