THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF MEN'S BASKETBALL...
Thursday, Jan. 17 — 7 pm AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Central Washington (8-6, 2-4 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (7-7, 2-4 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Jan. 19 — 7 pm AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage,
Northwest Nazarene (10-2, 5-1 GNAC [1/17 @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
LIVE VIDEO & STATS: Both games free at gnac.tv or portal.stretchinternet.com/uaa
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAMBB Twitter feed for in-game updates & final scores.
PROBABLE UAA STARTERS (2018-19 stats)
G—Jack Macdonald, 6-0, Jr. (9.4 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 2.4 apg, .429 FG, .333 3FG, .793 FT)
G—Brennan Rymer, 6-0, So. (10.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.6 apg, .510 FG, .500 3FG, .794 FT)
F—Tyler Brimhall, 6-5, Jr. (16.1 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.8 apg, .435 FG, .393 3FG, .827 FT)
F—Niko Bevens, 6-6, Jr. (12.4 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, .426 FG, .385 3FG, .600 FT)
F—Sjur Berg, 6-7, Jr. (7.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg, .583 FG, .595 FT)
SCOUTING REPORT: Central Washington has played its last four games within nine points, including two overtime contests and another that went down to the final possession ... the Wildcats, from Ellensburg, Wash., are led by Gamaun Boykin (14.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 3.0 apg, .492 FG, .805 FT) and Jeryn Lucas (12.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, .375 3FG) ... entering the week in a four-way tie atop the GNAC standings, Northwest Nazarene has won four straight, suffering its lone league setback at Saint Martin's (88-86) on Dec. 1 ... the Nighthawks are paced by the GNAC's first- and third-leading scorers, Adonis Arms (21.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2.5 spg, .617 FG, .400 3FG, .714 FT) and Obi Megwa (18.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.5 spg, .506 FG, .410 3FG, .765 FT).
ALL-TIME VS. CWU: UAA leads 21-19 overall
In Anchorage: UAA leads 12-6
Last: UAA 70-54 (2/10/18 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: UAA has won four of the last six, with both CWU victories coming in overtime in Ellensburg ... the Seawolves have won the last three meetings at the Alaska Airlines Center ... UAA leads 19-15 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02) ... first meeting was in Feb. 1979, although programs did not play again until Jan. 2000.
ALL-TIME VS. NNU: UAA leads 22-13 overall
In Anchorage: UAA leads 14-4
Last: UAA 59-48 (2/8/18 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: Teams have split the last two season series, with each team protecting its home court ... the last 12 meetings have all been decided by 13 points or less ... UAA leads 21-13 in GNAC 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.
WASHINGTON RECAP: The Seawolves came up short in a pair of comeback efforts against GNAC co-leaders last week, falling 70-68 at Saint Martin's and 87-74 at Seattle Pacific ... in Thursday's game, So. PG Brennan Rymer had team-highs of 16 points (5-9 FG, 2-3 3FG, 4-4 FT), 5 rebounds and 4 assists and UAA shot a season-best 16 of 17 (.941) from the free-throw line, but it was not quite enough against the GNAC coaches' poll favorites ... Jr. F Tyler Brimhall added 14 points, while Jr. F Niko Bevens and Fr. G Tobin Karlberg notched 11 points apiece against the Saints ... on Saturday, SPU began the game with a 17-0 run as the Seawolves played catchup all day, getting a game-high 18 points (8-11 FG, 2-3 3FG) from Jr. G Jack Macdonald, who tallied his most points in a GNAC game ... Bevens had 14 points (4-10 3FG) and a career-high 7 rebounds, and Rymer contributed 12 points (5-7 FG) and 4 assists for the Seawolves, who saw their three-game Royal Brougham Pavilion win streak snapped.
TEAM NOTES: UAA ranks in the top 50 of the NCAA national stats in both assists per game (31st, 16.5 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (50th, 1.28) ... in the GNAC stats, the Seawolves stand 3rd in assists per game and scoring defense (71.3 ppg) ... UAA is seeking the program's 14th straight winning season and the 36th in 42 years ... the Seawolves have earned eight straight winning GNAC records and qualified for the GNAC Tournament every year since its founding in 2011.
PAW PRINTS: UAA's representative on the Preseason All-GNAC Team, Jr. G/F Tyler Brimhall was has not disappointed, ranking 4th in the league in scoring (16.1 ppg), 7th in rebounding (6.5 rpg), 5th in 3FGs per game (2.5), 9th in minutes per game (29.1) and 10th in FT% (.827) ... the Utah native has scored at least 22 points in six games thus far, while grabbing at least seven rebounds in eight of 14 contests ... UAA's other impact transfer, Jr. F Niko Bevens has tallied double digits in nine games, including a UAA season-high 28 points in the 83-79 road win over Hawaii Pacific ... Bevens' seven first-half treys against HPU were the most ever for a Seawolf before the break and his eight 3FGs in the victory tied for 7th on UAA's single-game list ... in the GNAC stats, the former Montana Grizzly ranks 20th in scoring (12.4 ppg), 2nd in 3FGs per game (3.0) and 3rd in minutes per game (32.4) and ... the Seawolves' most experienced player, Sr. C Brian Pearson swatted a UAA season-high five shots against Concordia and at SPU, moving him into a current tie for 5th place on UAA's career blocks list with 76; he also stands 5th in blocks per game with 0.9 ... the Nevada native leads the GNAC with 1.4 blocks per game and needs just five more swats to move up to 5th on UAA's career list ... So. Brennan Rymer is showing improvement from his rookie season in all categories, averaging 10.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg and a team-high 3.6 apg ... the Aussie made the all-tournament team at the Seawolf Jamboree and has scored double figures in seven of the last nine games, including 19 vs. Lake Superior State and 20 vs. S.D. Mines ... Rymer holds GNAC ranks of 4th in assists, 13th in FT% (.794) and 17th in FG% (.510), shooting an impressive 12 of 24 from long range as well ... after a slow start following a season away from basketball, Jr. F Sjur Berg has come on strong with .500-or-better shooting in the last 11 games and double-figure scoring in the last five of the last eight contests ... the Swede had career-highs of 14 points (5-8 FG, 4-4 FT), 14 rebounds and 4 blocks in the Nov. 23 win over South Dakota Mines, and he bettered his top scoring effort with 18 points last week in the win over defending GNAC champ Western Oregon ... Berg has grabbed at least five rebounds in eight of the last nine games, now ranking 12th in the league in rebounds per game (5.9), along with 8th in FG% (.583) and 8th in offensive rebounds per game (2.1) ... two other Seawolves have broken into the league's top-20 stat leaders as Jr. G Jack Macdonald stands 9th in assist-turnover ratio (2.5) and Fr. G Travis Adams is 14th in the same category (2.3) ... after logging only eight minutes in two games through December, Sr. G Matt Seymour has given UAA a boost this month with efforts of 7 points (2-3 FG, 2-2 FT) in the win over Western Oregon, 5 points (1-2 3FG, 2-2 FT) against Concordia and 8 points (2-2 3FG), 3 rebounds and 2 assists at Seattle Pacific ... the Juneau (Thunder Mountain HS) native also has just one turnover in 51 minutes played ... Fr. G Tobin Karlberg had his most productive scoring efforts in GNAC games thus far with 11 points at Saint Martin's and 5 points and SPU last week.
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 15th year at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (272-158) has led the Seawolves to 13 straight winning seasons, along with five NCAA Tournaments and a trip to the 2008 NCAA D-II Semifinals … the longest tenured coach in program history and in the GNAC, he became the first UAA basketball coach to reach 200 career victories when the Seawolves beat Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 10, 2015 … Osborne captured his first career 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 Ryan Orton (5th season) and Shane Rinner (7th season).
2018-19 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Tyler Brimhall
Preseason All-GNAC Team
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
Brennan Rymer
Seawolf Jamboree All-Tournament Team
