GNAC Sports

Saturday, Dec. 3

Women's Basketball: Clan, Wolves Off To 2-0 Starts


Collins	Peterson

Kristina Collins and Rylee Peterson had outstanding performances as Simon Fraser and Western Oregon completed two-game sweeps in the opening weekend of GNAC play Saturday afternoon.

Collins scored 26 points converting on six of 10 three-point shots leading the Clan (5-1) to a 62-52 home win against Montana State Billings.

Peterson produced a 22-point, 12-rebound double-double in Western Oregon's 57-46 victory against Northwest Nazarene.

Elsewhere in the GNAC Saturday afternoon, Alaska Anchorage defeated Alaska Fairbanks 78-29. The game was the conference opener for both teams.

In night contests, Seattle Pacific (5-2) bounced back from Thursday's loss at Simon Fraser to defeat Western Washington 82-66 and Saint Martin's (4-5) evened its conference record at 1-1 with a 57-50 win over Central Washington.

For just the second time in six games someone other than Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe led Simon Fraser in scoring in its victory.

“Montana State (Billings) really focused on containing Nayo which gave other players an opportunity to step up,” Collins said.

Raincock-Ekunwe, however, still contributed greatly scoring 12 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. She made six of eight shot and had SFU's only two blocks. Also in double figures was Chelsea Reist with 10 points.

Kayleen Goggins led MSUB (3-4, 0-2) with 12 points and seven rebounds.The Yellowjackets also got 10 points each from Bobbi Knudsen and Quinn Peoples.

Collins had a three-pointer late in the first half to finish off a 9-2 run and give Simon Fraser a 28-21.

The Yellowjackets then scored the final four points of the period to begin a 15-1 run in going ahead 36-29 early in the second half.

Kalli Stanhope had one of her three treys and Peoples had back-to-back three-pointers in that stretch.

Simon Fraser, however, responded later scoring seven consecutive points including another trey by Collins to take a 44-40 lead with 10:18 left.

The Clan led the rest of the way though they were up by just three points (55-52) with 2:47 left before scoring the game's final seven points.

Western Oregon 57, Northwest Nazarene 46

After a 0-6 record in non-conference games, Western Oregon has bounced back with two straight conference wins.

Peterson and Jade Haas, who had 17 points and seven rebounds, keyed Saturday's win.

"Everyone expects Rylee to do it but where Jade has come from last season is amazing," said WOU head coach Greg Bruce.

"She is a difference maker because I don't feel anyone can keep up with her. If we can get her the ball in the open floor I feel pretty good about that. Rylee was a warrior again and gave a great effort."

WOU fell behind 4-0 to start the game but then went on a 14-1 run. NNU answered back with a 14-2 run of its own to take back the lead at 23-22.

Western Oregon, which led by one at halftime, started the second period with a 14-5 run and never trailed again in the game, extending its advantage to as many as 14 points.

Peterson made eight of 15 shots, including WOU's only three treys of the contest. Haas converted on eight of 16 shots. NNU was led by Megan Hingston with 15 points and nine rebounds.

The Wolves held the Crusaders (5-3, 1-1) to a 28.8 percentage (17-59) including one of 10 on three-pointers. WOU also outrebounded NNU 41-32.

Alaska Anchorage 78, Alaska Fairbanks 29

Alaska Anchorage (5-2) set GNAC records for fewest field goals allowed and lowest opponent shooting percentage in a conference game in defeating its in-state rivals.

Alaska Fairbanks (3-6) made just seven of 48 shots (14.6 percent) to break the old marks of 9 and 17.5 percent.

Western Washington held both records holding Northwest Nazarene to nine field goals on Feb. 19, 2005 and Western Oregon to a 17.5 percentage (11-63) on Feb, 15, 2007.

Hanna Johansson led UAA with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Joining Johansson in double figures were Haley Holmstead with 13 points, Alysa Horn with 12 and Tijera Matthews with 11.

Jacqueline Lovato scored eight of UAF's 29 points, while Benissa Bulaya had six points. The Nanooks were outrebounded 59-37 and had 11 more turnovers (28-17) than the Seawolves.

Seattle Pacific 82, Western Washington 66

Center Katie Benson scored a game-high 24 points leading Seattle Pacific past Western Washington at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

Guard Corinn Waltrip had a team-high 16 points for the Vikings (4-2, 1-1). Seattle Pacific also got 11 points from guard Jordan Harazin. Forward Nyesha Sims added 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

The Falcons never trailed, jumping to a 24-8 lead 11:16 into the game as WWU hit just two of its first 14 shots from the field. SPU held a 35-27 advantage at halftime.

The Vikings twice pulled to within four points in the second half, the last at 45-41 with 15:31 left after forward Kristin Schramm hit a three-pointer, then stole the ball and converted a layin.

But SPU then put the game away, using a 12-2 run, with Benson scoring 10 of the points, to take a 57-43 lead with 12 minutes remaining. WWU got no closer than 10 points after that.

Schramm finished with 13 points and forward Sydney Donaldson came off the bench to add 11 for the Vikings, who entered the contest shooting 47.1 percent from the field for the season but hit just 35.5 percent (22-62).

Saint Martin's 57, Central Washington 50

Chelsea Haskey had game highs of 22 points and nine rebounds to lead Saint Martin's past Central Washington at Marcus Pavilion.

The Saints fell behind early 10-2, but then held Central (2-3, 0-2) to just six points over the final 15 1/2 minutes of the first half in going ahead 26-16 at the break.

SMU built its lead to 17 points (46-29) with 8:39 left before the Wildcats made a late surge pulling to within three points (53-50) with 2:15 remaining on three-pointer by Courtney Johnson. That finished off a 12-1 CWU run.

The Wildcats, however, didn't score again as the Saints closed out the game getting a layup by Megan Teade and two foul shots by Kori Skorpik in the final 30 seconds.

In addition to Haskey, who made 10 of 17 shots, the Saints also got nine points from Angela Gelhar on four of six shooting. Daisy Burke and Johnson paced Central with 10 points.

Men's Basketball: Blanche Leads Viks Past No. 19 SPU

Blanche

Rory Blanche scored 15 points and capped a decisive run midway through the second half lifting Western Washington to a 79-71 win over 19th-ranked Seattle Pacific Saturday at Brougham Pavilion.

The Vikings (9-1) won their seventh straight game, improving to 2-0 in GNAC.

Western Oregon (7-1, 2-0) equaled that feat also extending its win streak to seven games with a 79-75 overtime win at Northwest Nazarene.

Montana State Billings (5-3) and Central Washington (5-2) each evened their conference records at 1-1. The Yellowjackets rallied from 19 down at halftime to edge Simon Fraser 93-90.

The Wildcats had a little bit easier time defeating Saint Martin's 76-61 as point guard Lacy Haddock scored 26 points and also had a game-high five assists.

Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks earned non-conference wins in the AT&T Alascom Jamboree in Anchorage.

The Seawolves (4-2) doubled up Minot State 82-40 for their fourth consecutive win. Stefan Tica scored 22 points to lead the Nanooks (3-7) to a 84-69 win over Portland Bible.

Western Washington, trailing 48-44 midway through the second half at Seattle Pacific, tallied 12 unanswered points to take its first lead of the game.

Five different Vikings scored during the surge, capped by a Blanche tip-in of a John Allen miss that provided a 56-48 margin with 8:39 left to play.

The Falcons netted the next seven points, drawing within 56-55 with 6:26 on the clock, but they would get no closer.

Western stretched its lead out to 11 points and converted nine of 10 free throws inside the final minute, six of them from Richard Woodworth, to seal the victory.

WWU stopped a five-game losing skid against the Falcons who had won 12 of the last 14 meetings.

SPU (6-2, 1-1) lost despite a season-high 31-point performance from Andy Poling, who made 13 of 17 shots from the field. David Downs added 14 points and Jobi Wall had 10 for the Falcons.

Jones shared team-high honors with 15 points for the Vikings, who also got 13 from Woodworth and 11 apiece from Allen and Chris Mitchell.

In the first half, the Falcons forged their largest lead at 33-22 on a three-pointer by Downs with 2:55 left in the period.

WWU closed with an 8-2 run, including a tip-dunk at the buzzer by Blanche, to draw within 35-30 at halftime.

Western Oregon 79, Northwest Nazarene 75

Western Oregon rallied from a seven-point deficit with 4:24 remaining in regulation, then outscored Northwest Nazarene 14-10 in overtime to earn its second straight come-from-behind conference road victory.

Trailing 62-55 after a three-pointer by the Crusaders' Andy Maxwell, the Wolves scored 10 consecutive points - four by Kolton Nelson and two each by Blair Wheadon, Kyle Long and Jordan Freelander - to go ahead 65-62.

Maxwell, however, forced overtime knocking down a 24-foot trey with two seconds left.

WOU, however, made three of six field goals and eight of 10 free throws in the extra session, going ahead for good 71-69 on a jumper by Long with 1:48 remaining.

Long led five Wolf players in double figures with 15 points and also had a game-high six assists. WOU also got 14 points from Wheadon, 13 each by Nelson and James Gehring and 11 from Freelander.

Keith Moilanen poured through 30 to lead Northwest Nazarene (4-3, 0-2). Moilanen made seven of 11 three-pointers as the Crusaders outscored Western Oregon 45-6 from the arc making 15 of 34 treys compared to two of 15 by the Wolves.

WOU, however, outscored NNU 23-8 from the foul line and had 10 fewer turnovers (13-23).

Joining Moilanen in double figures for NNU were Maxwell with 12 and Anthony Golden with 11. Golden also had a game-high four steals.

Montana State Billings 93, Simon Fraser 90

Antoine Proctor scored 24 of his game-high 30 points in the second half as Montana State Billings overcame a 53-34 halftime deficit to beat Simon Fraser.

The Yellowjackets also got 27 points from Taylor Stevens and 12 assists from Jaxon Myaer. Stevens netted 18 of his points in the final 20 minutes.

Proctor converted on 12 of 18 shots, including 10 of 13 in the second half. Stevens made seven of 11 shots in the second half.

Robert Mayes had 13 points, a game-high nine rebounds and five assists for the Yellowjackets.

Javari Williams paced Simon Fraser (4-4, 0-2) with 24 points. Justin Brown scored 19 points and Matt Raivio had 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Jordan Sergent and Connor Lewis had 12 and 11 points, respectively.

MSUB made 24 of 38 second-half shots (63.2) during its comeback, finishing the game with 36 field goals in 67 attempts (53.7).

The Clan used a 28-4 run to build its first 19-point lead (40-21) with 7:25 remaining in the period.

They still led by 16 (72-56) with 11:47 left in the second stanza, but MSUB ran off 13 straight at that point including six by Proctor and five by Stevens to climb within three.

The 'Jacks finally caught SFU at 76-76 and again at 80-80 and 81-81. The Clan took their last lead (90-89) with 47 seconds left on two free throws by Williams.

David Arnold, who made four of five shots, hit a jumper with 29 seconds left to put MSUB back up 91-90 and Mayes then scored on a dunk after a turnover by Raivio with nine seconds remaining.

Central Washington 76, Saint Martin's 61

Haddock scored 15 of his 26 points in the second half as the Wildcats extended a four-point halftime lead to double digits and led by as many as 17 points.

Haddock made 11 of 19 shots, including four of five three-pointers. The Wildcats also got 20 points from Toussaint Tyler who made three of six treys and seven of eight free throws.

Jody Johnson scored a dozen points and also helped CWU control the backboards 41-27 grabbing 14, seven at the offensive end. Kevin Davis had nine points, six rebounds and three blocks.

Jeremy Green paced the Saints (2-5, 1-1) with 19 points and Roger O'Neill had 17. Brok Pendleton tossed in nine points and Brady Bomber had four assists.

Alaska Anchorage 82, Minot State 40

Taylor Rohde scored 18 points and Lonnie Ridgeway grabbed 12 rebounds as 21st ranked Alaska Anchorage rolled to 42-point victory at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

The Seawolves also got 13 points from Colton Lauwers and 12 points apiece from guards Travis Thompson and Kyle Fossman as they extended their winning streak to four.

The Beavers (1-9) were led by nine points and six rebounds from starting forward Josh Johnson, but Minot was held to 31.6 percent shooting from the field, including two of 16 from long range.

Meanwhile, the Seawolves were hot from three-point land, sinking 16 of 27 (.593) to equal the eighth-most treys in program history.

Fossman, an all-tourney selection, was four of four from deep in the first half, while Thompson connected on four of eight. Thompson also had a career-high nine assists.

Ridgeway controlled the boards for UAA, equaling his career-high of a dozen at Western Washington last season, and Rohde took home the event's Most Outstanding Player award for the second straight year.

A 6-9 center, Rohde shot nine of 13 from the field in Saturday's win, along with eight rebounds and three steals helping the Seawolves extend their Jamboree win streak to 12 games.

Alaska Fairbanks 84, Portland Bible 69

All-tournament selections Dominique Brinson and Nico Matthews each scored 16 points and Matthews fell one rebound and one assist shy of a triple-double in Alaska Fairbanks' victory.

Tica made 10 of 17 shots in leading five players into double figures, including Jesse Ward and Daniel Shaw who had 12 and 10 points, respectively.

UAF shot 54.5 percent from the floor (36-66) as Matthews made eight of 10. Shaw made five of eight and Ward converted on five of nine.

Matthews led the Nanooks in both rebounds and assists. UAF outboarded Portland 33-26 and also earned 30 assists - six by Brinson - on its 36 baskets.

Armand Burkhead accounted for four of UAF's nine steals as the Alaska squad had five fewer turnovers (11-16) than Portland Bible, which was led by Doug Noteboom and Tim Mahan with 21 and 19 points, respectively.