THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thu., Jan. 29 – 6 pm AST – Carver Gymnasium – Bellingham, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage (14-6, 6-3 GNAC) at Western Washington (9-11, 3-6 GNAC)
&
Sat., Jan. 31 – 6 pm AST – SFU West Gymnasium – Burnaby, B.C.
Alaska Anchorage at Simon Fraser (5-14, 2-7 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: All UAA home contests and GNAC road contests are streamed through the GNAC Network portal at Hudl – gnacnetwork.com/uaaseawolves ... fans can choose between a single event ($12), a 30-day subscription ($25) or a yearly subscription ($120).
 
LIVE STATS: Thursday at wwuvikings.com/sidearmstats/mbball
                       Saturday at athletics.sfu.ca/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA TENTATIVE STARTERS (2025-26 stats)
G—Cole Johnson, 6-2, Jr. (5.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 2.8 apg)
G—Akok Machar, 6-7, Sr. (9.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.4 spg, .929 FT)
G—Hasaan Herrington, 6-3, Sr. (11.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.6 apg, 2.1 spg, .357 3FG, .820 FT)
F—Bishop Tosi, 6-6, Sr. (10.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.9 apg, .533 FG, .756 FT)
F—Sylas Williams, 6-7, Jr. (12.9 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.0 apg, 0.8 bpg)
 
SECOND-HALF SPRINT BEGINS: The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team begins the second half of the 18-game, round-robin GNAC schedule with games this week at Western Washington (Thur., 6 pm AST) and Simon Fraser (Sat., 6 pm AST) ... UAA enters the week tied for second in the league standings with Northwest Nazarene, while its opponents are each trying to make a late-season push for a top-6 finish to make the GNAC Tournament.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Western Washington enters the week eighth in the GNAC standings, having snapped a three-game skid with an 80-68 home win over Simon Fraser on Saturday ... the Vikings are led by 6-3 So. G Aidan Rice (18.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.9 apg, .413 3FG, .859 FT) and 6-4 Jr. G Nehemiah Pollard (16.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg, .796 FT) ... Simon Fraser has dropped four straight and nine of its last 10, falling into a ninth-place tie in the standings ... the Red Leafs are led by 5-11 Jr. G Mikyle Malabuyoc (13.3 ppg, 5.2 apg, .422 3FG, .843 FT) and 7-0 Sr. C Zach Stone (12.2 pgg, 5.9 rpg, .455 FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs WWU: WWU leads 29-22 overall, 14-9 in Bellingham
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 90-56 (1/3/26 at UAA)
Notes: Teams have split the last four season series ... UAA is going for its first regular-season sweep since 2015-16 ... UAA's win Jan. 3 was its largest margin over WWU ... UAA won 71-67 last year in Bellingham ... 18 of the last 19 games have been decided by 10 points or fewer, including three OT contests ... WWU leads 25-20 in GNAC regular-season games (since 2001-02) ... first and only non-GNAC meeting was an 89-77 UAA home win, Jan. 20, 2000, when both schools were in the Pac West.
 
vs SFU: UAA leads 30-2 overall, 14-1 in Burnaby
Streak: UAA 9
Last: UAA 80-71 (1/1/26 at UAA)
Notes: UAA has won four straight in Burnaby, including 94-87 last season ... the last four games have been decided by single digits, including one OT contest ... SFU's last win came by a 92-81 score, Feb. 6, 2020 in Burnaby ... the Seawolves won the first 20 games in series history ... UAA leads 25-2 in GNAC meetings since SFU joined the league in 2010-11 ... teams met twice in UAA's first year of Div. II membership in 1977-78, with UAA winning both at home … teams also met when SFU was a provisional NCAA member in 1999-00 and both teams were in the Pac West.
 
SATISFYING SWEEP: The Seawolves moved up a notch in the GNAC standings with hard-fought victories over Seattle Pacific (54-50) and Montana State Billings (84-70) last week at the Alaska Airlines Center ... in the first game, Sr. G Hasaan Herrington had 16 points (4-7 FG, 7-7 FT), 4 assists and 3 steals to help UAA prevail in the lowest-scoring contest in series history (91 games) ... Jr. F Sylas Williams had 9 points and 8 rebounds, Sr. F Bishop Tosi had 8 points and 9 rebounds, and Sr. G Akok Machar had 7 points, a career-high 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks as the Seawolves outscored the visitors 13-7 over the last 5:18 ... on Saturday, Williams had a career-high 28 points (10-19 FG, 6-11 3FG), 10 rebounds and 3 assists, and Herrington logged a career-high 24 points (8-12 FG, 4-5 3FG, 4-5 FT), along with 9 assists, as UAA closed out Billings with a 27-13 run over the final 8:30 ... Tosi added 16 points (5-6 FG, 6-8 FT), 5 rebounds and 3 assists, while Machar had 6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and a career-high 6 assists, helping UAA outboard MSUB 36-25.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves lead the GNAC stats in scoring defense (63.1 ppg) and rebound defense (29.9 rpg) and assists per game, and are second in rebound margin (+5.9), turnovers forced (15.6). AT ratio (1.39) and steals (8.95) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, UAA is 11th in assists, 12th in scoring defense and 26th in A/T ratio (1.32) ... the Seawolves are 11-0 when leading at halftime, 6-0 when scoring 80 points or more and 6-0 when shooting .500 or better ... UAA needs one more win to earn its 17th .500-or-better record in the past 19 seasons, and two more wins to clinch the 38th winning record in 48 seasons of NCAA Div. II existence ... the Seawolves have claimed winning conference records in 33 of 43 years belonging to a league ... UAA has 17 20-win seasons since becoming an NCAA Div. II program in 1977-78.
 
'WOLF BITES: Sr. G Hasaan Herrington has blossomed into one of the GNAC's most well-rounded players over his three seasons at UAA, improving his numbers to 11.5 ppg (.470/.357/.820), 4.1 rpg, 4.6 apg and 2.1 spg ... the former East High star has averaged 12.8 ppg in the 15 games against D-II foes this year, including a 17-point (6-9 FG) effort to boost the win over Chaminade, 19 points (8-12 FG) against SFU and 16 points/10 assists against WWU, claiming GNAC Player of the Week honors for the Jan. 1-3 games ... Herrington is No. 3 nationally  in A/T ratio at 3.6-to-1, and he holds GNAC ranks of 4th in assists and 3rd in steals – the only player in the top 5 in both categories ... Herrington moved into 9th place on UAA's career steals list last week at 113, needing seven more to move into a three-way tie for seventh ... back for his third year in Green & Gold, Sr. F/C Bishop Tosi was the Seawolves' representative on the Preseason All-GNAC Team ... an honorable mention all-league performer as a junior, the former Bartlett High star has made an impact again with 10.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg and 1.9 apg, upping his scoring and rebounding to 14.7 ppg and 5.7 rpg over the last six games; since Dec. 2, Tosi has shot 61 percent (43-71) from the field, with his only sub-.500 game being a 4-of-9 showing against SFU ... Tosi has made game-winning baskets against Chaminade, Northwest and SPU, along with late heroics in the win at Western Oregon ... in the GNAC stats, Tosi ranks 4th in offensive rebounding (2.4), 14th in FT% (.756) and 6th in FG% (.533) ... Tosi also ranks 13th on UAA's career FG% list at .555 ... Jr. F Sylas Williams has made a major impact in his debut season, claiming Most Outstanding Player honors in the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge and emerging as the team's leading scorer (12.9 ppg) and the GNAC's leading rebounder (7.2 rpg) ... the 2024-25 NWAC Player of the Year at Skagit Valley (Wash.) College, Williams has posted six double-doubles, including five in the last 10 games ... the Washington native holds GNAC ranks of 1st in rebounding, 17th in scoring, 6th in offensive rebounding (2.2), 10th in blocks (0.8) and 20th in minutes per game (29.5) ... a transfer from fellow D-II program Texas-Tyler, Sr. G Akok 'Cookie' Machar has emerged as another all-around threat, scoring double figures 12 times, including nine of the 13 D-II games ... originally from South Sudan and raised in Adelaide, Australia, Machar paces the GNAC with a .929 FT%, making his first 29 attempts ... Machar is also top-20 in blocks (18th, 0.6) and steals (11th, 1.4) ... Jr. G Cole Johnson ranks 12th in the GNAC with 2.8 assists per game, dishing a career-high 8 dimes with no turnovers in the win over SPU on Thursday ... Johnson has committed just 11 turnovers over the last 12 games (233 minutes), while dishing 25 assists and nabbing 10 steals.
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 21st season (22nd year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (373-240) 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 18 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 Ashton Pomrehn (1st season) and Ryan Engebretsen (5th season/6th year).
 
2025-26 Seawolf Individual Honors
HASAAN HERRINGTON
GNAC Player of the Week, Dec. 29-Jan. 4
Sprite Tundra Tip-Off All-Tournament Team
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
AKOK MACHAR
Sprite Tundra Tip-Off All-Tournament Team
BISHOP TOSI
Preseason All-GNAC Team
SYLAS WILLIAMS
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge Most Outstanding Player