Friday, February 27, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. –  Either Seattle Pacific or Northwest Nazarene will earn the GNAC’s second first-round bye in next week’s GNAC Men’s Basketball Championships at Alterowitz Gymnasium in Billings, Mont.

The Falcons can earn the bye with a win Saturday against Northwest Nazarene.  SPU would also gain the tournament’s No. 2 seed if either Montana State Billings beats Central Washington or if Alaska Anchorage defeats Saint Martin’s Saturday.

NNU must beat SPU and hope CWU and SMU win their games to earn the No. 2 seed.

Western Oregon will be the top-seed in the tournament and will play in Friday’s semifinals against the winner of a Thursday game between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds.

The other Friday semifinal will match the No. 2 seed against the winner of a Thursday game between the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds. 

The first-round games and the semifinal games will both be played at 5:15 and 7:30 p.m. on the respective dates, however, the order is yet to be determined.

WOU is the only team that has locked in its exact seed.  Depending on what happens Saturday, NNU could be seeded anywhere between second and sixth.

Seattle Pacific could end up as the No. 2 or No. 3 seed.  Central Washington could be the third, four or sixth seed. 

Alaska Anchorage could wind up as the third, fourth or fifth seed and Western Washington, which will take an eight-game win streak into the tournament, will either be the fifth or sixth seed.

WOU Ranked 20th in NABC, 23rd in D2SIDA Polls

Western Oregon fell five positions to No. 20 in this week’s NABC national poll after splitting two games last week.

In this week’s official NCAA West Regional poll, WOU is ranked fourth and Seattle Pacific is 10th.

The third of three NCAA regional polls will be released next Wednesday.  Then next weekend the NCAA selection committee will choose the five teams which will join the GNAC, CCAA and PacWest champions in the NCAA West Regional, which begins Friday, March 13 at a site to be determined.

The qualifiers will be announced Sunday night (March 8) at 7:30 p.m. Pacific on a webcast on ncaa.com.

NCAA West Region Poll (Feb. 25)  – 1. Azusa Pacific (21-4); 2. Cal Baptist (20-5); 3. BYU-Hawaii (19-5); 4, Western Oregon (19-4); 5. Dixie State (19-6); 6. Chico State (17-6); 7. Cal Poly Pomona (17-5); 8. Point Loma (18-6); 9. Humboldt State (15-7); 10. Seattle Pacific (16-7).  (Note: Record listed is versus Division II opponents through Feb. 22).

D2SIDA West Regional Poll (Feb. 23) – 1. Azusa Pacific (23-4); 2. Dixie State (19-6); 3. Western Oregon (22-4); 4. Cal Baptist (20-5); 5. BYU-Hawaii (19-5); 6.  Cal Poly Pomona (20-5); 7. Chico State (19-6); 8. Point Loma (20-6); 9. Humboldt State (19-7); 10. Seattle Pacific (19-7). Note: Records through Sunday, Feb. 22.

Turner Remains 4th in Division II Blocked Shots

Western Washington forward Anye Turner remains as the highest ranked GNAC player in the NCAA Division II national statistical report (through Feb. 26).  He ranks fourth in blocked shots averaging 3.04 per game.

Turner has had one or more blocks in 28 consecutive games dating back to the final game of the 2013-14 season. 

Two Central Washington players also rank in the Top 10.  Dom Williams ranks seventh in three-pointers made (3.55) and Joseph Stroud is eighth in blocks (2.79). 

Two other players have Top 10 national rankings.   Sango Niang of Simon Fraser ranks 10th in assists (6.4) and Julian Nichols of Western Oregon is sixth in assist/turnover ratio (3.33).

In team categories,  Simon Fraser ranks first in Division II in scoring (104.2), steals (12.7) and turnover margin (8.0).   The Clan also ranks second in three-pointers (12.4). 

Seattle Pacific is second in rebound margin (13.3), sixth in field goal percentage (51.6) and eighth in scoring margin (15.6).

After outrebounding CWU 60-25 in a 69-47 win Thursday at Brougham Pavilion, SPU is closing in on the national rebounds leader trailing Slippery Rock by just 1/10 of a rebound per game (13.4 to 13.3).

Western Washington ranks fifth in blocked shots (5.5) and Alaska Anchorage is ninth in both free throw percentage (76.8) and assists (18.0) to complete the list of GNAC teams ranked in the Top 10.

By The Numbers

Double-Doubles: 8 – Kevin Rima, NNU.  6 – Anye Turner, WWU. 5 - Matt Borton, SPU.  4 -  Sango Niang, SFU; Mitch Penner, SPU. 3 - Erik Kinney, NNU; Riley Stockton, SPU.  2 – Kalidou Diouf, UAA; Roderick Evans-Taylor, SFU; Austin Hudson, MSUB; Jeffrey Parker, WWU; Lewis Thomas, WOU; Mac Johnson, WWU; Victor Ieronymides, SMU; Anthony Reese, UAF.  1 – 18  with.

30-Point Games: 2 – Sango Niang, SFU; Travis Thompson, UAA; Dom Williams, CWU; Jeffrey Parker, WWU. 1 – 14 with.

20-Point Games: 17 – Sango Niang, SFU.  11 - Dom Williams, CWU; Cory Hutsen, SPU. 10 - Travis Thompson, UAA. 9 - Andy Avgi, WOU.  8 - Brian McGill, UAA Jeffrey Parker, WWU.   7 – Justin Cole, SFU; Jaamon Echols, WWU.   5 - Ricardo Maxwell, WWU; Ashton Edwards, UAF; Marc Matthews, MSUB; Joey Schreiber, WWU.

10-Rebound Games: 8 – Kevin Rima, NNU.  7 – Anye Turner, WWU. 6 – Matt Borton, SPU.  5 - Mitch Penner, SPU;  Tyler Nelson, MSUB; Lewis Thomas, WOU.  4 –Riley Stockton, SPU; 3 – Erik Kinney, NNU; Mac Johnson, WWU; Anthony Reese, UAF.  2 – 9 with. 

10-Assist Games: 4 – Sango Niang, SFU.  2 – Julian Nichols, WOU.  1 – Harris Javier, WWU; Dom Williams, CWU; Devin Matthews, CWU; Ricardo Maxwell, WWU; Brian McGill, UAA.

2014-15 ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS:  Seattle Pacific (Nov. 14-15) – Cory Hutson, SPU; Mitch Penner, SPU; Jordan Russell, CWU; Joseph Stroud, CWU.  Dominican (Nov. 14-15) – Antoine Hosley, MSUB.  Sonoma State (Nov. 14-15) – Brian McGill, UAA.  Western Washington (Nov. 14-15) – Jeffrey Parker, WWU (MVP); Anye Turner, WWU; Joey Schreiber, WWU; Erik Kinney, NNU.  Alaska (Nov. 20-22) – Ruben Silvas, Alaska.  WOU (Nov. 21-22) – Trey Ingram, SMU; Lewis Thomas, WOU.   Great Alaska Shootout (Nov. 26-29) – Travis Thompson, UAA*.  (*UAA played Shootout as exhibition). UAA Seawolf Jamboree (Dec. 12-13) – Kalidou Diouf, UAA; Travis Thompson, UAA.

ALL-REGION TEAMS: Capital One Academic All-District -  Travis Thompson, UAA (Civil Engineering, 3.47, Sr., Anchorage, AK); Lee Bailey, Chaminade (Communications, Sr., 3.39, Detroit, MI); Matt Hayes, Dominican (Chemistry, 3.57, Jr., Yuba City, CA); Adam Kile, UCSD (Bio-Engineering, So., 4.00, Anchorage, AK); Evan Zeller, CSU Monterey Bay (Business Administration, So., 3.53. Mission Viejo, CA).

Thursday’s Game Notes

Alaska: Almir Hadzisehovic scored 20 points and Anthony Reese nearly had a triple-double (10 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists) leading the Nanooks to a home overtime win over Saint Martin’s.  UAF also got 16 points from Kyle Tomlinson, 14 from Alex Duncan and  11 from Ashton Edwards in improving to 2-2 over its last four games.  UAF shot 51.8 percent (29-of-56) and outrebounded the Saints 39-25.

Alaska Anchorage: Christian Leckband scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, making all five of his shots, as the Seawolves defeated first-place Western Oregon.  Derrick Fain also had 16 points and Dom Hunter had 14.  Brian McGill earned eight assists.  UAA shot 55.8 percent, making 29 of 52 shots, including 12-of-22 from the arc.  Leckband  was four-of-four from the three-point line.

Central Washington: The Wildcats’ starting lineup scored just 25 points, 15 by Joseph Stroud, who made six of nine shots, in a loss at Seattle Pacific.  CWU was 7-of-34 in the first half drawing a blank in seven three-point attempts in digging itself a 32-16 halftime deficit.

MSU Billings:  Emmanuel Johnson had 20 points and Antoine Hosley had 14 in a 91-67 home loss to Northwest Nazarene.  Jordan Perry had 13 points and tied Johnson for team rebounding honors with five.

Northwest Nazarene: Erik Kinney scored 19 points to lead five players in double figures in a 24-point win at Billings.    Kevin Rima added 16 points.  Alex Birketoft made four-of-four three-pointers and finished with 12 points.  Bouna N’Diaye also had 12 points and Pol Olivier netted 11 points.  The Crusaders shot 54.7 percent (35-of-64), including 41.7 on treys (10-of-24).

Saint Martin’s: Trey Ingram had 27 points and six steals at Fairbanks, making 9 of 10 two-point shots (and 2-of-8 three-pointers).  The Saints also got 15 points from Isaac Bianchini, who made 4-of-5 three-pointers, and 11 from Tyler Idowu.

Seattle Pacific:  The Falcons limited Central Washington to one three-pointer in 13 attempts and a 30.6 percent shooting percentage in a 69-47 win.  Matt Borton had 15 points and 17 rebounds, only eight fewer that the entire CWU team as SPU controlled the backboards 60-25.  Corey Hutsen had a game-high 17 points.

Simon Fraser: Sango Niang scored 20 points increasing his career total to 979 to finish his career in 65th place on the GNAC career scoring list.  SFU also got 12 points from Hidde Vos on 4-of-6 three-point shots, 11 from Daniel Deflorimonte and 10 from Patrick Simon.

Western Oregon:  Devon Alexander scored 20 points and Andy Avgi had 19 points and eight rebounds in a two-point loss at Anchorage.  WOU shot 48.2 percent from the floor (7-of-12), but was 9-of-28 from the three-point line.  Avgi is shooting 61.0 percent on the season making 183 of 300 and has a 59.1 career percentage, eighth all-time in the conference.

Western Washington: The Vikings will take an eight-game win streak as either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed in next week’s conference tournament at Billings, Mont.   Jeffrey Parker paced WWU with 31 points, becoming the fourth GNAC player to have two 30-point games this winter.  Parker made 14-of-21 shots and was a perfect 11-of-11 inside the arc.  He also had nine rebounds.  Joey Schreiber had 22 points and eight rebounds and Anye Turner had 14 points and 14 rebounds, posting his sixth double-double of the season.

GNAC WEEKLY (PDF)