THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thursday, Feb. 6 – 6:30 pm AST – Nicholson Pavilion – Ellensburg, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage (11-13, 4-7 GNAC) at Central Washington (14-6, 8-2 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Feb. 8 – 5:30 pm AST – Johnson Sports Center – Nampa, Idaho
Alaska Anchorage at Northwest Nazarene (14-4, 7-3 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday at youtube.com/@CWUAthletics
                       Saturday at youtube.com/live/1-UInyRsY0U
LIVE STATS: Thursday at wildcatsports.com/sidearmstats/mbball
                      Saturday at nnusports.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2024-25 stats)
G—Tyler Burraston, 6-4, Jr. (13.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.4 apg, .409 3FG, .786 FT)
G—Dillon Barrientos, 6-1, Sr. (6.1 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.9 apg, .323 3FG, .605 FT)
G—Hasaan Herrington, 6-3, Jr. (9.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.5 apg, .510 FG, .766 FT)
F—Jesse Stines, 6-7, Jr. (4.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.9 apg, .426 FG, .621 FT)
F—Bishop Tosi, 6-6, Jr. (11.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.7 apg, .536 FG, .675 FT)
 
KINGS OF THE ROAD: The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team begins a difficult stretch this week as it concludes the regular season with five of the last seven games away from home, starting Thursday and Saturday at league leaders Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene ... the Seawolves begin the week at eighth in the GNAC, two games out of the sixth and final GNAC Tournament berth.
 
KNOW THE FOES: Aiming for a return NCAA Tournament trip, Central Washington has gone 6-1 since Jan. 9, earning a 91-88 OT victory over Northwest Nazarene on Saturday to claim the GNAC lead by one game ... the Wildcats feature four double-figure scorers, led by Cavin Holden (14.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.1 apg, 1.3 spg, .452 3FG, .800 FT) and Garrett Anderson (13.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg, .405 3FG, .821 FT) ... Northwest Nazarene will be looking to snap a two-game losing skid when it hosts UAF on Thursday night, entering the week a half-game ahead of Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific for second place in the league ... the Nighthawks are led by Kye Dickson (18.8 ppg, 8.3 rpg, .417 3FG, .728 FT) and Ryzin Bergersen (10.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.1 apg, 2.1 spg, .627 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs CWU: UAA leads 27-24 overall, trails 16-10 in Ellensburg
Streak: CWU 3
Last: CWU 64-52 (1/11/25 at UAA)
Notes: Neither team has won four straight in series history ... UAA has lost four straight in Ellensburg, although the Seawolves won 90-72 on Jan. 5, 2023 in Moses Lake, Wash., when CWU was revamping Nicholson Pavilion ... the last meeting in Ellensburg came in the 2024 GNAC Tournament title game, won 78-69 by CWU ... UAA leads 24-20 in GNAC regular-season meetings ... first meeting was in Feb. 1979, although programs did not play again until Jan. 2000.
 
vs NNU: UAA leads 27-20 overall, trails 14-8 in Nampa
Streak: NNU 1
Last: NNU 71-63 (1/9/25 at UAA)
Notes: Teams have split the last four meetings ... NNU has won seven straight in Nampa since a 74-61 UAA victory, Feb. 25, 2016 ... teams met in last year's GNAC Tourney semifinals in Ellensburg, with UAA winning 64-63 ... the last seven meetings have been decided by eight points or less ... the home team has won 12 of the last 14 regular-season meetings ... the last 24 meetings have been decided by 13 points or less, including three overtime contests ... UAA leads 24-19 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.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Seawolves got back into the win column last week, earning a home split with Western Washington (L, 76-73) and Simon Fraser (W, 59-58) at the Alaska Airlines Center ... on Thursday, Jr. F Bishop Tosi notched his fourth double-double with 21 points (8-15 FG, 4-4 FT) and 11 rebounds – along with a career-high 7 assists – but the Vikings held off a late Seawolf charge to earn a season series split .. So. G Zach Ibbetson had his highest-scoring GNAC output with 15 points (6-13 FG), while Jr. F Jesse Stines had career highs of 10 points and 3 blocks in the loss ... on Saturday, Jr. G/F Hasaan Herrington had 17 points (6-9 FG, 5-6 FT), 8 rebounds and the game-winning layup with 4.1 seconds remaining against the Red Leafs ... Jr. G Tyler Burraston added 11 points and 9 rebounds, and Sr. F Luke Devine snagged a career-high 8 rebounds off the bench as the Seawolves survived a last-second shot by SFU to earn the series sweep.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA holds top-10 NCAA Div. II national ranks in assist/turnover ratio (6th, 1.76), scoring defense (7th, 62.7), along with ranks of 11th in assists per game (18.8), 19th in turnover margin (+4.1), 21st in fewest fouls per game (14.3) and 26th in fewest turnovers per game (10.7) ... the Seawolves are top-3 in the GNAC stats in 12 categories, including first in scoring defense, turnovers forced (14.8), 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: Jr. G Tyler Burraston has scored double figures in 20 of 24 games, earning MVP honors at the Hoops In Hawaii Classic and averaging 17.0 ppg in UAA's 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 13.4 ppg (17th GNAC) and a .409 3FG% (10th GNAC), while leading the conference and ranking 13th nationally with 3.4 treys per game ... sporting four double-doubles, Jr. F Bishop Tosi has scored double figures 16 times and snagged at least five rebounds in 17 of 24 games, ranking as UAA third-leading scorer with 11.2 ppg ... the former Bartlett High star is 9th in the GNAC in rebounding (6.2 rpg), 2nd in offensive rebounding (3.1 orpg) and 6th in FG% (.536) ... 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, 4.8 rpg, 2.5 apg (19th GNAC) and 1.4 spg (13th GNAC), while shooting .510 (13th GNAC) from the field and .766 at the FT line ... the former East Anchorage HS star scored double figures in a career-best six consecutive games Jan. 2-23, and on Feb. 1 provided 17 points, 8 rebounds and the game-winning layup against SFU ... Sr. G Dillon Barrientos ranks 14th in the GNAC with 2.9 assists per game, dishing multiple dimes in all but two games since Nov. 29 ... after suffering at injury at Seattle Pacific on Jan. 23, the Seawolves will miss the services Sr. G Sean Evans, who had emerged as the Seawolves' second-leading scorer (12.6 ppg) since transferring from Nebraska-Kearney ... the Colorado native is 4th in the GNAC with 4.3 assists per game, 3rd in A/T ratio at 2.6, and 20th in scoring ... 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.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 20th season (21st year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (360-228) 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)