THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF MEN'S BASKETBALL...
Thursday, Feb. 14 — 5 pm AST — Johnson Sports Center — Nampa, ID
Alaska Anchorage (12-10, 7-7 GNAC) at Northwest Nazarene (16-4, 11-3 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Feb. 16 — 6 pm AST — Nicholson Pavilion — Ellensburg, WA
Alaska Anchorage at Central Washington (9-13, 3-11 GNAC [2/14 vs UAF])
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. (11.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.4 apg, .463 FG, .386 3FG, .818 FT)
G—Brennan Rymer, 6-0, So. (9.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 4.0 apg, .457 FG, .425 3FG, .836 FT)
C—Brian Pearson, 6-9, Sr. (4.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.4 bpg, .420 FG, .714 FT)
F—Tyler Brimhall, 6-5, Jr. (17.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.8 apg, .460 FG, .423 3FG, .819 FT)
F—Niko Bevens, 6-6, Jr. (12.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.8 apg, .426 FG, .391 3FG, .743 FT)
SCOUTING REPORT: Northwest Nazarene has won five of its last six since losing Jan. 19 at UAA ... chasing a GNAC regular-season title and an NCAA Tournament berth, the Nightahwks are led by the league-leading scorer Adonis Arms (21.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, .594 FG, .361 3FG, .772 FT) and Obi Megwa (18.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.2 apg, .339 3FG, .736 FT) ... Central Washington will try to snap a 6-game losing streak Thursday when it hosts Alaska Fairbanks ... the Wildcats, who have also lost four straight at home, are led by Gauman Boykin (13.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.2 apg, .433 FG, .811 FT) and Jeryn Lewis (11.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, .359 3FG).
ALL-TIME VS. NNU: UAA leads 23-13 overall
In Nampa: NNU leads 9-8
Last: UAA 85-73 (1/19/19 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 2
Notes: The home team has won the last five games, including a 79-78 overtime win by NNU last year in Nampa ... UAA is aiming for its first season sweep since 2015-16 ... the last 13 meetings have all been decided by 13 points or less ... UAA leads 22-13 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.
ALL-TIME VS. CWU: UAA leads 22-19 overall
In Ellensburg: CWU leads 12-8
Last: UAA 79-63 (1/17/19 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 2
Notes: UAA has won five of the last seven, with both CWU victories coming in overtime in Ellensburg (72-71 last season) ... UAA leads 20-15 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02) ... first meeting was in Feb. 1979, although programs did not play again until Jan. 2000.
ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Seawolves suffered their first two GNAC home losses of the season last week, falling 65-64 to Seattle Pacific at 69-53 to 19th-ranked Saint Martin's at the Alaska Airlines Center ... on Thursday, Jr. F Tyler Brimhall scored a game-high 26 points (10-17 FG, 6-8 3FG) and grabbed 5 rebounds but SPU forward Gavin Long put back a missed free throw with 2.5 seconds remaining to give the Falcons the regular-season sweep ... So. G Brennan Rymer tallied 11 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds, and Jr. G Jack Macdonald added 11 points (4-7 FG) and 2 steals against the Falcons ... on Saturday, Jr. F Niko Bevens scored 16 points and dished 2 assists to help UAA stay close until the final 10 minutes against the league-leading Saints ... Sr. C Brian Pearson recorded 11 points (4-8 FG), 5 rebounds and 2 steals, and Brimhall collected 8 rebounds and a career-high 5 assists, but SMU shot .481 from long range and committed just 6 turnovers.
TEAM NOTES: UAA ranks in the top 40 of the NCAA national stats in assist/turnover ratio (33rd, 1.35), assists per game (30th, 16.6 apg) ... the Seawolves lead the GNAC in assists per game and rank 2nd in 3FG% (.383) and rebounding defense (31.9), along with 3rd in scoring defense (70.9), A/T ratio and offensive rebound pct. (.317) ... 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.
KILLER B's: The Seawolves have gotten a predictably large impact from its two players with Div. I experience, getting a nearly 30 points per game from the combo of Jr. Fs Tyler Brimhall (Idaho) and Niko Bevens (Montana) ... Brimhall, who transfered directly from North Idaho College, was UAA's representative on the Preseason All-GNAC Team and currently ranks 4th in the league in scoring (17.9 ppg) and 6th in rebounding (6.7 rpg), plus 4th in 3FGs per game (2.9), 6th in minutes per game (30.9), 9th in FT% (.819) and 11th in 3FG% (.423) ... sporting a team-high four double-doubles, the Utah native has scored at least 21 points in 11 games, while grabbing at least seven rebounds in 13 of 22 contests ... Brimhall captured his first GNAC Player of the Week award for his performance against CWU and NNU, tallying 43 points (12-21 FG, 8-11 3FG, 11-14 FT), 14 rebounds and 5 assists in the home sweep ... meanwhile, Bevens has tallied double digits in 15 games, including 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, he ranks 18th in scoring (12.5 ppg), 2nd in 3FGs per game (3.0, 42nd nationally), 18th in 3FG% (.391) and 3rd in minutes per game (32.4).
INTERIOR EXPERIENCE: The Seawolves' most experienced player with 91 career games, Sr. C Brian Pearson has climbed to 4th on UAA's career blocks list, now with 87 ... the Nevada native needs just three more blocks to catch Seawolf Hall-of-Famer Peter Bullock (90 blks, 2000-04) for 3rd, and he stands 5th in blocks per game with 0.96 ... Pearson leads the GNAC and ranks 71st nationally with 1.4 bpg ... following a season away from basketball, Jr. F Sjur Berg has come on strong with .500-or-better shooting in his last 18 games and double-figure scoring in seven of the last 15 contests ... the Norwegian 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 in the win over defending GNAC champ Western Oregon ... Berg has grabbed at least five rebounds in 12 of the last 20 games to rank 11th in the league (6.0 rpg), along with 4th in FG% (.606) and 7th in offensive rebounds per game (2.2) ... a regular in the lineup since his arrival at UAA in 2014, Berg ranks 9th on the program's career FG% list at .558.
AUSSIE, AUSSIE: The ninth and tenth Australians to suit up for the Seawolves in the past 15 seasons, So. PG Brennan Rymer and Jr. G Jack Macdonald have established themselves as regulars in the starting lineup in their second seasons at UAA ... Rymer has shown improvement from his rookie season in all categories, averaging 9.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg and a team-high 4.0 apg ... the Sydney native has scored double figures in 11 of the last 17 games and dished at least four assists in eight of the last 11 contests ... Rymer has risen to 3rd in the GNAC in assists per game, along with 8th in FT% (.836), shooting an impressive .425 from long range as well ... meanwhile, Macdonald (Melbourne) has raised his scoring average from 8.7 to 11.0 ppg in the last nine games, producing his best GNAC scoring totals with 18 points (8-11 FG) at SPU, a career-high 23 points (9-15 FG) against CWU, 18 points (3-7 3FG, 9-10 FT) in the win over NNU, a team-high 17 points (6-11 FG, 3-5 3FG, 2-2 FT) at WWU and 17 points (6-10 FG) at Concordia ... the Melbourne native also dished a career-high 6 assists against NNU and now holds GNAC ranks of 30th in scoring, 14th in assist-turnover ratio (2.1), 10th in FT% (.818) and 20th in 3FG% (.386) and 3FGs per game (1.5).
TRUST IN RUSTY: Now in his 15th year at the helm, head coach Rusty Osborne (277-162) 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
GNAC Player of the Week, Jan. 14-20
Jack Macdonald
GNAC All-Academic Team
Brian Pearson
GNAC All-Academic Team
Brennan Rymer
Seawolf Jamboree All-Tournament Team
GNAC All-Academic Team
