THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thu., Jan. 8 – 5:30 pm AST – Johnson Sports Center – Nampa, ID
Alaska Anchorage (11-4, 3-1 GNAC) at Northwest Nazarene (8-4, 2-1 GNAC)
&
Sat., Jan. 10 – 6:15 pm AST – Nicholson Pavilion – Ellensburg, WA
Alaska Anchorage at Central Washington (7-7, 1-2 GNAC [1/8 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 nnusports.com/sidearmstats/mbball
                       Saturday at wildcatsports.com/sidearmstats/mbball
 
UAA TENTATIVE STARTERS (2025-26 stats)
G—Cole Johnson, 6-2, Jr. (5.5 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 2.9 apg)
G—Akok Machar, 6-7, Sr. (11.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.6 spg, .939 FT)
G—Hasaan Herrington, 6-3, Sr. (10.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 4.2 apg, .478 FG, .360 3FG, .818 FT)
F—Bishop Tosi, 6-6, Sr. (9.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.0 apg, .516 FG, .769 FT)
F—Sylas Williams, 6-7, Jr. (13.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.1 apg, 0.8 bpg, .474 FG, .338 3FG)
 
ROUGH ROAD AHEAD: The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team begins a three-game road swing this week when it makes the challenging trip to Nampa, Idaho, to face Northwest Nazarene (Thur., 5:30 pm AST) and Ellensburg to face Central Washington (Sat., 6:15 pm AST) ... UAA enters the week tied for second in the early GNAC race, with NNU sitting tied for fourth and CWU tied for sixth.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Picked second in the GNAC preseason coaches' poll, Northwest Nazarene got off to an 8-1 start before losing its last three games, including a 75-63 road setback to Central Washington last week ... the Nighthawks are led by 6-5 Jr. G Easton Reagan (21.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, .567 FG, .831 FT) and 6-2 Sr. G Jaden Byers (13.1 ppg, .787 FT) ... defending GNAC regular-season champ and preseason poll favorite Central Washington got its first league win last week after falling at Simon Fraser (89-73) and Western Washington (97-95) in early December ... the Wildcats are led by 6-2 Jr. G Jordan Clark (16.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.5 apg, .808 FT) and 6-3 Jr. G  Bradley Swillie (15.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.2 apg, .385 3FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs NNU: UAA leads 27-21 overall, trails 15-8 in Nampa
Streak: NNU 2
Last: NNU 72-51 (2/8/25 at NNU)
Notes: NNU has won six of the last eight since the pandemic ... NNU has won eight straight in Nampa since a 74-61 UAA victory, Feb. 25, 2016 ... seven of the last meetings have been decided by eight points or less ... the home team has won 13 of the last 15 regular-season meetings ... UAA leads 24-20 in GNAC regular-season meetings ... first and only meeting as non-GNAC members was a 93-66 UAA home win, Feb. 3, 2001.
 
vs CWU: UAA leads 27-25 overall, trails 17-10 in Ellensburg
Streak: CWU 4
Last: CWU 76-66 (2/6/25 at CWU)
Notes: CWU's four straight wins are the longest streak for either team ... UAA has lost five straight in Ellensburg, although the Seawolves won 90-72 on Jan. 5, 2023 in Moses Lake, Wash., when CWU was revamping Nicholson Pavilion ... UAA leads 24-21 in GNAC regular-season meetings ... first meeting was in Feb. 1979, although programs did not play again until Jan. 2000.
 
STRONG START TO '26: The Seawolves rang in the new year with a pair of victories at the Alaska Airlines Center last week, beating Simon Fraser 80-71 and Western Washington 90-56 ... on Thursday, Sr. G Hasaan Herrington scored a season-high 19 points (8-12 FG), along with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a career-high-tying 4 steals as UAA erased an early deficit to improve to 30-2 all-time against SFU ... Jr. F Sylas Williams had 12 points and 7 rebounds, while Sr. G Akok Machar and Jr. G Elijah Mobley each managed 10 points and 4 assists ... on Saturday, Sr. F Bishop Tosi scored a season-high 18 points (6-9 FG) and UAA got double-doubles from Williams (17 pts, career-high 12 rebs, career-high 6 assts) and Herrington (16 pts, career-high 10 assists) as the Seawolves notched their largest margin in 51 meetings against the Vikings ... Machar added 13 points and Sr. F Jesse Stines had 10 points (4-5 FG, 3-4 3FG) and 6 rebounds to help UAA to a 41-24 edge on the boards.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves lead the GNAC stats in scoring defense (62.4 ppg), rebound defense (29.5 rpg allowed), turnovers forced per game (17.0) and assists per game (18.8) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, UAA is 9th in assists, 12th in scoring defense, 25th in TO forced, 29th in FT% (.763) and 34th in steals per game (9.7) ... UAA has earned .500-or-better records in 16 of the past 18 seasons, and 37 winning records in 47 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: Having claimed his first career GNAC Player of the Week award Monday, Sr. G/F Hasaan Herrington has blossomed into one of the GNAC's most well-rounded players over his three seasons at UAA, improving his numbers to 10.9 ppg (.478/.360/.818), 4.4 rpg, 4.2 apg and 2.2 spg ... the former East High star has averaged 12.7 ppg in the 10 games against D-II foes, 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 ... after dishing 14 assists with just three turnovers last week, Herrington continues to leads the nation in A/T ratio at 5.7-to-1 ... he also holds GNAC ranks of 5th in assists and 3rd in steals – the only player in the top 5 in both categories ... currently in 12th with 105 steals, Herrington needs just three more to move into UAA's career top 10 ... 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 this season with game-winning baskets against both Chaminade and Northwest, along with late heroics in the win at Western Oregon ... in the GNAC stats, Tosi ranks 5th in offensive rebounding (2.3), 12th in FT% (.769) and 11th in FG% (.516) ... Tosi ranks 14th on UAA's career FG% list at .553  ... 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 10 D-II games ... originally from South Sudan and raised in Adelaide, Australia, Machar leads the GNAC with a .939 FT%, making his first 29 attempts ... Machar is also top-15 in blocks (12th, 0.7) and steals (8th, 1.6) ... 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 (13.0 ppg) and rebounder (7.2 rpg) ... the 2024-25 NWAC Player of the Year at Skagit Valley (Wash.) College, Williams has posted four double-doubles ... the Washington native holds GNAC ranks of 4th in rebounding, 17th in scoring, 7th in offensive rebounding (2.2), 9th in blocks (0.8) and 16th in 3FGs per game (1.9) ... Jr. G Cole Johnson ranks 13th in the GNAC with 2.9 assists per game, while Sr. F John McFadden is 18th in steals (1.2).
 
TRUST IN RUSTY: In his 21st season (22nd year) at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (372-238) 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