THURSDAY'S GNAC SCOREBOARD: Men's Basketball – Alaska Anchorage 81 at Northwest Nazarene 64; Alaska Fairbanks 69 at Central Washington 74; Western Oregon 57 at MSU Billings 79; Saint Martin's 54 at Seattle Pacific 66. Women's Basketball - Northwest Nazarene 39 at Alaska Anchorage 79; Central Washington 94 at Alaska Fairbanks 72; MSU Billings 57 at Western Oregon 41; Seattle Pacific 78 at Saint Martin's 62.

Thursday, Jan. 26

Men's Basketball: Fossman Shoots UAA To Win

Fossman Shoots UAA To 17-Point Win

Kyle Fossman made nine of 10 shots, including six of seven three-pointers, and scored a career-high 26 points to lead Alaska Anchorage to a 81-64 win over Northwest Nazarene Thursday at the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa.

The win, coupled with Montana State Billings' 79-57 home win against Western Oregon, allowed the Seawolves (14-4, 8-2) to move all alone into second place in the GNAC race.

The Wolves (14-5, 7-3) dropped into a tie for third with Seattle Pacific (15-4, 7-3) which defeated Saint Martin's 66-54.

Idle Western Washington (8-1) leads UAA by one-half game and Western Oregon and Seattle Pacific by 1 1/2.

In another game, Central Washington (10-8, 4-6) beat Alaska Fairbanks 74-69 to climb into a sixth-place tie with Saint Martin's (8-11, 4-6).

In addition to Fossman, Alaska Anchorage also got a career-high 16 points from senior guard Steve White in its win. White also had five assists.

The Crusaders (9-9, 3-7) were led by Jonathan Hawkins with 14 points and three assists, but NNU was unable to hold on to an early 10-4 lead.

After Nazarene's quick start, Fossman nailed consecutive three-pointers and Lonnie Ridgeway – playing in his first game since injuring his hand Dec. 3 – gave UAA the lead with a short jumper.

Leading 24-17 a few minutes later, Fossman again sank back-to-back treys, and the Seawolves led by at least nine points the rest of the way.

Fossman had 16 points as UAA forged a 40-26 halftime lead, including a rebound put-back of Travis Thompson's miss at the buzzer.

Abebe Demissie joined Fossman and White in double figures with 11 points on three of six three-point shooting off the bench, while Thompson had seven points and five assists.

UAA doubled up the Crusaders 32-16 on the boards, tying for the second-fewest rebounds ever allowed by a Seawolf team. The school record of 15 rebounds was set against NNU on Jan. 22, 2004.

The Seawolves also held lofty advantages in field-goal percentage (58.7 to 46.9) and three-point percentage (57.9 to 32.0), while shooting a season-best 88.9 percent (16 of 18) from the free throw line.

Jordan Nicholes and JB Pillard joined Hawkins in double figures for the Crusaders scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively. Pillard led all players with seven rebounds.

Montana State Billings 79, Western Oregon 57

Montana State Billings outscored Western Oregon 29-6 in a 10 1/2 minute period spanning the two halves and went on to defeat the Wolves 79-57.

Jaxon Myaer led the Yellowjackets with 14 points, including a jumper that gave MSUB a 34-33 lead late in the opening period.

The Yellowjackets trailed 33-27, but then outscored WOU 10-1 over the final 2:47 of the first half, taking the lead for good on a three-pointer by Taylor Stevens with 59 seconds remaining.

MSUB continued its surge outscoring the Wolves 19-5 over the first 7:47 of the second half and were never challenged the rest of the way.

Myaer led a balanced attack also earning seven assists in addition to his 14 points. David Arnold had 13 points, including 10 after halftime, while Antoine Proctor scored 12 and Stevens finished with 11.

Proctor also had four assists and four of MSUB's eight steals. He also made three of five three-pointers as the 'Jackets converted on 15 of 33.

Blair Wheadon paced Western Oregon with 18 points and Jordan Freelander scored 14. James Gehring had 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Kyle Long had eight points increasing his career total to 1,003 points becoming the 49th player in GNAC history to reach that plateau.

MSUB dominated the backboards outrebounding WOU 46-29 as Robert Mayes, who had nine points, grabbed 13 caroms.

The Yellowjackets also limited the Wolves to 33.3 percent shooting (19-57), while converting on 44.6 percent (25-56).

Seattle Pacific 66, Saint Martin's 54

Jeff Dorman equaled his career-high game total with 10 first-half points and finished with a team-high 12 leading Seattle Pacific to a 12-point win at Brougham Pavilion.

The Saints missed six of their first seven shots while the Falcons hit five of their first six shots in building a 13-3 lead.

That lead increased to as many as 13 points before settling on a 39-28 halftime margin in favor of SPU. Dorman made four of five shots in the period, including three of three treys.

SPU shot 55.6 percent (15 of 27) from the field in the opening half while holding SMU at 32.3 (10 of 31).

Jobi Wall and Cory Hutsen each scored 11 points for the Falcons and David Downs added 10. Wall and Andy Poling grabbed 10 rebounds apiece to lead a 43-37 edge on the boards.

Jeremy Green registered a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Saints, who also got 10 points from Roger O'Neill.

Matt Dodson tallied five straight points to start a seven-point surge that trimmed SMU's deficit to 50-45 with 9:12 left to play.

Wall, however, stopped the run, and SPU's 5-minute, 16-second scoreless drought, with a pair of free throws at 6:30. That ignited a decisive 11-2 spree for the Falcons, who extended their win streak over SMU to six.

Central Washington 74, Alaska Fairbanks 69

Roby Clyde scored a season-high 13 points - all in the second half - as Central Washington handed the Nanooks (4-16, 1-9) their seventh straight loss.

In the absence of center Kevin Davis who didn't play in the second half due to injury, Clyde and Jody Johnson combined for 22 second-half points on eight of 13 shooting to key the win.

The Wildcats had a 33-30 lead at halftime but UAF pulled into a 60-60 tie on a three-pointer by Nico Matthews with 5:12 left.

But the Wildcats answered 18 seconds later on a jump shot by Clyde. Central never relinquished that lead as Clyde scored eight of the final 14 points to give the Wildcats the final five-point win.

CWU guard Lacy Haddock, who played all 40 minutes, scored a team-high 18 points on seven of 16 shooting. Johnson finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Clyde added seven rebounds as he finished one point shy of his career-high total of 14. Also scoring in double digits was Toussaint Tyler who netted 15 points.

The Nanooks outshot the Wildcats 46.6 percent (27 of 58) to 43.8 percent (28 of 64), but Central shot 73.7 percent (14 of 19) from the free throw line and had four fewer turnovers (10-14)

The Nanooks were led in scoring by Sergej Pucar with 20 points on nine of 11 shooting and Dominique Brinson with 14 points and three steals. Matthews had 12 points and Stefan Tica had 11.

Women's Basketball: Sims Leads Falcons to 78-62 Win

Sims scored 15 as SPU Outscored SMU 78-62

Nyesha Sims scored 15 points and was one of six Seattle Pacific players in doubles figures as the Falcons rolled past Saint Martin's 78-62 in a GNAC contest Thursday at Marcus Pavilion.

That put SPU (13-5, 7-3) back into sole possession of second place in the conference standings, one-half game ahead of Western Washington and Simon Fraser who both had the night off and remained at 6-3.

Meanwhile, nationally 12th ranked Alaska Anchorage (18-3, 9-1) held on to its two-game lead in the conference doubling up Northwest Nazarene 79-39.

Elsewhere Thursday, Montana State Billings defeated Western Oregon 57-41 and Central Washington outscored Alaska Fairbanks 94-72.

Joining Sims, who had nine of her points in the second half, in double figures in Seattle Pacific's win were Rachel Murray with 12 points, Suzanna Ohlsen with 11 and Aubree Callen, Katie Benson and Betsy Kingma with 10 apiece.

Chelsea Haskey, who had 12 points led the Saints. SMU also got nine each from Emily Lashua and Andrea Schutt.

“We came out in the second half, and Nyesha gave us a huge spark,” Seattle Pacific head coach Julie Heisey said.

“Rachel (Murray) was solid in rebounding and going to the basket and taking a couple of charges and Aubree (Callen) was very aggressive," Heisey said. "Katie Benson, Jordan Harazin (who didn't take a shot but had five assists) – they all did a really good job.”

Murray also grabbed eight rebounds as the Falcons dominated the boards, 42-30.

The Falcons had a 13-point lead late in the first half at 35-22. But Saint Martin's (7-13, 2-8) closed the half with a 7-2 scoring run to get within 37-29 by the intermission.

The Saints then scored the opening bucket of the second half, cutting SPU's lead to 37-31. But from there, the Falcons ran off the next 11 points. That made it 48-31, and Saint Martin's never came closer than the final margin of 16.

Harazin's five assists moved her into a tie for 20th place on the all-time GNAC list. She now has 271 for her career.

Seattle Pacific topped 50 percent shooting from the field for the fifth time this season, hitting 51.6 percent (33 of 64). That included eight of 10 to start the second half, fueling the decisive 11-0 scoring surge.

The Falcons had 22 assists on those 33 baskets. Sims matched Harazin's total of five. It was the eighth time this season SPU has had 20 or more assists in a game – and they've won all eight.

Alaska Anchorage 79, Northwest Nazarene 39

Hanna Johansson scored 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Alaska Anchorage to a 40-point victory over Northwest Nazarene at the Wells Fargo Sport Complex.

The Seawolves also got 19 points and four steals from Haley Holmstead handing the Crusaders their worst loss since Feb. 12, 2005 when they were beaten 90-47 by Seattle Pacific.

Northwest Nazarene (11-7, 5-5) didn't have a player in double figures as Briaunna King led them with nine points.

The Crusaders shot just 24 percent (12 of 50) and were outrebounded 50-32 as UAA, which leads the nation in scoring margin, recorded the widest margin of victory in 26 all-time meetings with NNU.

After going scoreless for the first five minutes, Northwest Nazarene went on a 12-2 spurt to take a 12-8 lead at the 11:56 mark. But Holmstead scored on an assist from Johansson and Kylie Burns nailed a three-pointer to start a 16-1 Seawolf run.

UAA took just a 32-23 lead into the locker room despite holding NNU to one field goal over the final 11 plus minutes. However, Holmstead scored four quick points to start the second half, and the lead quickly grew to 45-25 on a Johansson layup at the 13:2 mark.

Johansson recorded her eighth double-double, shooting eight of 13 and adding four assists, three blocks and two steals.

In two games against NNU this season, she has 40 points on 16 of 21 shooting, 27 rebounds, 12 assists, five blocks and five steals.

The Seawolves, who recorded their sixth 40-plus victory margin this season, shot 46.5 percent from the field despite a three of 17 three-point performance.

Montana State Billings 57, Western Oregon 41

Brooke Tolman scored a season-high 19 points and Bobbi Knudsen added 12 points, four assists and four steals as Montana State Billings completed a season sweep of the Wolves at the New P.E. Building.

“Brooke (Tolman) really helped us in the first half especially, but she carried that over to the second half to put together a very good, complete game that we needed,” MSUB coach Kevin Woodin said.

“The key was that we played good, team defense and rebounded extremely well,” Woodin added.

MSUB out-rebounded the Wolves 44-32 and also had six fewer turnovers (15-21) which enabled the Yellowjackets to record the double-digit win despite being slightly outshot 35.6 percent to 34.4.

Tolman, who had 11 first-half points, came off the bench to hit six of her 10 attempts from the field, including a a season-high four treys in six attempts. Knudsen made six of 13 from the field and had a game-high four assists.

The freshman forward tandem of Janiel Olson and Kayleen Goggins each had game-highs of eight rebounds.

Rylee Peterson led Western Oregon with 11 points, eight rebounds and four steals, while Melissa Fowler had eight points.

Central Washington 94, Alaska Fairbanks 72

Alex Dunn scored 20 points to lead four players in double figures as Central Washington outscored Alaska Fairbanks at The Patty Center.

The win enabled CWU (6-11, 3-7) to complete a sweep of the season series with the Nanooks (6-14, 2-8) for the first time in three years.

Dunn, who played 33 minutes, was in contention for her second triple-double of the season but finished three assists shy of that accomplishment. Nonetheless, she still led all players with 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

CWU also got 19 points from Courtney Johnson, 18 from Jessica VanDyke and 17 from Sophie Russell and turned in its most efficient -- and its second-highest scoring -- performance of the season.

CWU did not trail in the contest, scoring on its opening possession with a three-pointer by Russell. The Wildcats and Nanooks were tied just once in the contest -- at 23-23 with 8:29 to go in the first half -- before the Wildcats closed the period on a 23-8 run to take a 46-31 halftime edge.

The scoring spurt carried over to the second half, when CWU scored the first 10 points, and the Wildcats had a lead of 20 points or more for the final 19:05 including a lead as great as 28 at one point.

The Wildcats' prolific offense included a 52.1 percent efficiency from the floor and 11 of 19 three-pointers (57.9 percent).

Dunn made 10 of 14 shot attempts, while Johnson made seven of 10 and VanDyke converted on six of 10. Van Dyke (4-7), Johnson (4-5) and Russell (3-5) combined to make 11 of 17 treys.

Alaska Fairbanks was led by Nicole Bozek and Kelly Logue with 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Nanooks also got nine points each from Jacqueline Lovato, Autumn Greene and Benissa Buyala. Greene also had 10 rebounds.

Football: Simon Fraser Players On World Team

Chin	Goosen

Simon Fraser linebacker Casey Chin (Port Moody, BC) and offensive lineman Matthias Goosen (Richmond, BC) have been named to the World Team roster for the 2012 International Bowl in Austin, Texas.

The game between Team USA and Team World will be played next Wednesday.

A total of 28 Canadians were named to the 44-member International Federation of American Football World Team roster which will include players from nine different countries.

Team World is led by Greg Marshall, head coach at the University of Western Ontario.

It will be Goosen’s second trip to the International Bowl while Chin will be making his first appearance in the game.

“It’s a huge honor for these two young men to be chosen to represent Canada,” said SFU football head coach Dave Johnson. “It’s such a unique opportunity for a football player. I have no doubt that Matthias and Casey will make their country, and their school proud.”

Goosen just completed his sophomore season with the Clan, earning a nomination to the GNAC all-conference first team.

Chin led the GNAC in average tackles per game with 8.2 and had 74 tackles. He was named to the GNAC all-conference second team.

Team World gathered in the Texas state capital today as the coaching staff began the task of bringing together players from all over the world to take on Team USA.

OTHER HEADLINES IN THE GNAC
Ashland Daily Tidings: WWU's Blanche Making Points
OregonLive.com: SPU Runners, Listen, Connect, Share Stories
Haglund Named GNAC Commissioner
Alaska Fairbanks NCAA Rifle Dynasty
SPU Has Long History in NCAA Soccer Tourney
Happy Landings For SPU's Wurth, Hamre
Porter To Run NY Marathon (From NY Daily News)

2011-12 GNAC All-Star Teams

Men's Soccer / Women's Soccer / Football / Volleyball

2011-12 GNAC Academic All-Star Teams

Men's Soccer / Women's Soccer / Football / Volleyball

2011-12 GNAC Season Preview

Men's Basketball / Women's Basketball

Click Here For More Stories