Wednesday, March 4, 2015

GNAC Championships (March 5-7 at Billings, MT): Thursday - #6 Northwest Nazarene vs. #3 Central Washington, 5:15 p.m.; #5 Western Washington vs. #4 Alaska Anchorage, 7:30 p.m.  Friday - #2 Seattle Pacific vs. 3/6 winner, 5:15 p.m.; #1 Western Oregon vs. 4/5 winner, 7:30 p.m.  Saturday – Championship game at 7:30 p.m.  (Note: All times are Mountain Standard Time).

PORTLAND, Ore. –   Seattle Pacific will be seeking its third straight GNAC tournament title beginning Thursday in Billings, Mont., as six teams battle for an automatic berth in next week’s NCAA West Regional. 

The  GNAC champion will join the winners of this week’s PacWest and CCAA tournaments in the regional which begins Friday, March 13.

Five other teams will be selected by the NCAA Regional selection committee (RAC) to compete in the eight-team regional.  The qualifying teams and site for the tournament will be announced Sunday at 7:30 p.m. (Pacific) with a webcast on ncaa.com.

SPU, which has made 10 straight NCAA appearances, is ranked just 10^th in the West Region and likely will need to win the tournament to keep its NCAA streak alive.

Western Oregon, which was ranked fourth in last week’s regional poll, comes to Billings as the GNAC regular-season champion and the top seed.  With a 23-5 record, the Wolves appear to be a good bet to advance to the regionals.

But upsets in the GNAC, PacWest and/or CCAA tournaments could drop WOU closer to the bubble.

Coach Brady Bergeson’s team is led by GNAC MVP Andy Avgi, who ranks third in the GNAC in scoring, averaging 18.1 points per game.  Avgi is third in the GNAC in  shooting percentage (61.6) and 10th in rebounding claiming 5.8 caroms per game.

GNAC Newcomer of the Year Julian Nichols is also a key player for the Wolves averaging 12.4 points and leading the conference in steals (2.4) and ranking second in assists (5.9).  

Riley Stockton averages just 9.7 points for Seattle Pacific, but is a multi-purpose standout, ranking fifth in the GNAC in rebounding (6.7) and sixth in assists (3.9).  He is the GNAC’s No. 8 all-time rebound leader (726) from the guard position and ranks 9th in career assists (42.5).

Stockton was voted the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year earning that award for the second time in three seasons.

Led by Stockton, Matt Borton (7.4 rpg) and Mitch Penner (5.7), SPU leads the nation in rebounding with a 13.6 margin.   Corey Hutsen provides much of the offense scoring 15.8 points per contest.

Central Washington, which won the inaugural GNAC tournament in 2011, is the No. 3 seed. 

Dom Williams is second in the GNAC in scoring averaging 19.9 points per game.  Joseph Stroud is a force inside for the Wildcats scoring 12.1 points, shooting a NCAA Division II best 71.4 percent, grabbing 5.3 rebounds and blocking 67 shots.

Alaska Anchorage, which advanced to the NCAA semifinals in 2008, is the No. 4 seed.  Trevor Thompson (17.2 ppg), Brian McGill (14.2 ppg) and Dom Hunter (13.5 ppg) lead the Seawolves.  Thompson has a GNAC-record 302 career treys.

Western Washington is the fifth-seed and comes to Billings as the hottest team in the conference winning eight straight.  Jeffrey Parker leads the Vikings  in scoring (16.1 ppg).  Ricardo Maxwell averages 15.5.  Anye Turner is the conference leader in rebounds (8.7) and blocks (3.0).

Northwest Nazarene is the No. 6 seed. Erik Kinney (14.8), GNAC Freshman of the Year Alex Birketoft (13.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg) and Kevin Rima (12.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg) are the key players for the Crusaders.

WOU Ranked 24th in NABC, 34th in D2SIDA Polls

Western Oregon fell four positions to No. 24 in this week’s NABC national poll after splitting two games last week.  WOU is also ranked seveneth and Seattle Pacific is 10th in this week’s official NCAA Division II West Region poll.

In this week’s unofficial D2SIDA West Regional poll, Western Oregon is sixth and Seattle Pacific is 10th.  In the D2SIDA national poll, the Wolves are “among others receiving votes” and are 34th overall.

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

D2SIDA West Regional Poll (March 2) – 1. Azusa Pacific (24-4); 2. Dixie State (20-6); 3. Cal Baptist (22-5); 4. BYU-Hawaii (21-5) and Chico State (21-6); 6.  Western Oregon (23-5); 7. Cal Poly Pomona (211-6); 8. Humboldt State (21-7); 9. Point Loma (21-7);  10. Seattle Pacific (21-7). Note: Records through end of regular season).

CWU’s Stroud Takes Over National Field Goal Percentage Lead

Central Washington forward Joseph Stroud is the NCAA Division II national leader in field goal percentage making 71.4 percent of his shots.  The GNAC single season record is 72.9.

All year, Stroud has been close to the NCAA requirement of five field goals made per game to be ranked, but hadn’t made that standard until this week.  He’s made 125 (exactly 5.00 per game) in 175 attempts.

Western Washington forward Anye Turner  is the next highest ranked GNAC player.   He is fourth in blocked shots averaging 3.04 per game.  Stroud ranks eighth averaging 2.68 blocks.

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

Three other GNAC players also rank in the Top 10.  CWU’s Dom Williams ranks seventh in three-pointers made (3.57).

Sango Niang of Simon Fraser ranks 10th in assists (6.4) and Julian Nichols of Western Oregon is seventh in assist/turnover ratio (3.24).

In team categories,  Seattle Pacific is the national leader in rebound margin for the first time this season, averaging 13.6 more rebounds than its opponents.

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).

In addition to leading in rebounding, Seattle Pacific is seventh in field goal percentage (50.7) and eighth in scoring margin (15.4).

Western Washington ranks fifth in blocked shots (5.5) and Alaska Anchorage is sixth in free throw percentage (77.1) and eighth in assists (18.3) 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;  Matt Borton, SPU.  4 -  Sango Niang, SFU; Mitch Penner, SPU. 3 - Erik Kinney, NNU; Lewis Thomas, WOU; Riley Stockton, SPU.  2 – Kalidou Diouf, UAA; Roderick Evans-Taylor, SFU; Austin Hudson, MSUB; Jeffrey Parker, WWU; Mac Johnson, WWU; Victor Ieronymides, SMU; Anthony Reese, UAF.  1 – 18  with.

30-Point Games: 3 - Dom Williams, CWU.  2 – Antoine Hosley, MSUB; Sango Niang, SFU; Travis Thompson, UAA; Jeffrey Parker, WWU. 1 – 13 with.

20-Point Games: 17 – Sango Niang, SFU.  12 - Dom Williams, CWU. 11 - Cory Hutsen, SPU; Travis Thompson, UAA. 9 - Andy Avgi, WOU.  8 - Brian McGill, UAA Jeffrey Parker, WWU.   7 – Justin Cole, SFU; Jaamon Echols, WWU. 6 - Ashton Edwards, UAF. 5 - Ricardo Maxwell, WWU; Marc Matthews, MSUB; Joey Schreiber, WWU.

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

ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS: Capital One Academic – 3^rd Team - Travis Thompson, UAA (Civil Engineering, 3.47, Sr., Anchorage, AK).

Last Week’s GNAC Team Notes

Alaska: Ashton Edwards scored 38 points, including 27 in a 75-60 loss to Western Oregon after the Nanooks beat Saint Martin’s 72-68 in overtime Thursday.  Almir Hadzisehovic had 20 points and Anthony Reese nearly had a triple-double (10 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists) in the victory.  Hadzisehovic had 30 points and Hadzisehovic and Reese each had 15 rebounds in the two-game set.  Reese also had 10 assists.

Alaska Anchorage: Travis Thompson netted 33 points and Derrick Fain had 32 points and 11 rebounds as the Seawolves won two games to finish in a tie for third-place with Central Washington.  Thompson made seven of 18 treys increasing his GNAC-record total to 302. Brian McGill had 25 points and 17 assists and only two turnovers. … Christian Leckband scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, making all five of his shots, in Thursday’s win over  first-place Western Oregon.  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: Dom Williams had his conference-leading third 30-point game of the season, scoring 33 points in a 104-99 overtime win at Montana State Billings.  Williams made 7-of-17 shots, including 4-of-8 three-pointers.  He was also 15-of-18 from the foul line.  In two games, he had 40 points and Stroud, who made 15 of 23 shots, had 39 points.  Stroud’s 15 field goals allowed him to take over the national lead in percentage as he reached the NCAA minimum requirement of five made per game for the first time this season.

MSU Billings:  Antoine Hosley is the first GNAC player to score 50 points in a game (See GNAC Player of the Week), but is the third Yellowjacket. Reece Gliko scored 54 against Southern Oregon on Dec. 28, 1996 and Markus Hallgrimson had games of 51 and 50 in his career.  . . .Emmanuel Johnson had 32 points and 13 rebounds as he and Johnson combined 59.6 percent (95 of 166) of MSUB’s scoring.

Northwest Nazarene: Erik Kinney scored 31 points, including 19 to lead five players in double figures in a 24-point win against MSUB.    Kevin Rima added 30 points, 16 against MSUB and Alex Birketoft had 26 points.  Birketoft converted on six of eight three-pointers in the two road contests.

Saint Martin’s: Trey Ingram had 27 points and six steals at Alaska Fairbanks, making 9 of 10 two-point shots (and 2-of-8 three-pointers). He finished the trip to Alaska with 39 points, eight steals and five assists.   The Saints also got 25 points from Will Bond and 24 from Isaac Bianchini.    Bianchini ranks seventh in GNAC history in three-point percentage, shooting 45.9 percent (107-of-123).

Seattle Pacific:  The Falcons limited Central Washington to one three-pointer in 13 attempts and a 30.6 percent shooting percentage in Thursday’s 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.  Borton had 13 points and 13 rebounds Saturday in a 60-49 win over NNU recording his third consecutive double-double and his sixth of the season.

Simon Fraser: Sango Niang scored 20 points in a loss Thursday at Western Washington increasing his career total to 979 to finish his career in 65^th 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 39 points and GNAC Player of the Year Andy Avgi had 36 points and 15 rebounds as the Wolves split two games in Alaska.  Lewis Thomas was a force inside, grabbing 18 rebounds and blocking six shots.   WOU controlled the backboards 67-54, but were outshot 47.6 percent (20-of-42) to 29.2 percent (14-of-48) from the arc.

Western Washington: The Vikings will take an eight-game win streak as the No. 5 seed in this week’s conference tournament at Billings, Mont.   Jeffrey Parker paced WWU with 31 points, becoming the fourth GNAC player to have two or more 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 Players of the Week

Feb. 23-March 1: Antoine Hosley, MSU Billings (G, 6-0, Sr., Portland, OR – Utah Valley) and Matt Borton, Seattle Pacific (G, 6-5, Sr., Yakima, WA – West Valley) … Both Hosley and Borton put up unbelievable numbers as the GNAC regular-season came to a close.  Hosley scored a GNAC-record 50 points as the Yellowjackets forced playoff-bound Central Washington into overtime before losing 104-99.  In that game, Hosley made 16 of 25 shots, including 2-of-3 treys.  He also converted on 16 of 18 foul shots before fouling out late in the final period.  In two games, Hosley scored 64 points and shot 60.0 percent from the floor (21-of-35) and 90 percent from the foul line (18-of-20).   Borton scored 28 points and pulled down 30 rebounds in home wins over Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene as SPU secured the No. 2 seed for the conference playoffs.   His efforts on the backboards helped SPU take the national leading in rebound margin (13.6).