Tuesday, December 1, 2015

IN SELECT COMPANY: Alaska Anchorage junior transfer guard Sekou Wiggs put on a show of record proportions for the host team in the GCI Great Alaska Shootout. Wiggs scored 30 points or more in all three of the Seawolves’ games, becoming the first player in tournament history to accomplish the feat. His total of 98 points suprassed the tournament record of 97 points set in 1993 by Purdue’s Glenn Robinson, who went on to a lengthy NBA career.

The rest of Wiggs’ line is just as impressive. In the three games, he averaged 32.7 points per game, shot .470 (31-66) from the floor, .444 from three-point rnage with 16 three-pointers, third most in tournament history. He also averaged five rebounds, three assists and a steal per game while committing just eight turnovers. Wiggs scored 35 points in UAA’s tournament-opening loss to Middle Tennessee and poured in 33 points in their win over Drexel. He was named to the all-tournament team.

The Division I transfer enters his first GNAC weekend leading the conference   with an average of 24.3 points per game and leads Division II in three-point attempts, free throw attempts, free throws made, total three-pointers made, total field goal attempts, total field goals made and total points.

ADD ANCHORAGE: Alaska Anchorage went 1-2 in the GCI Great Alaska Shootout, all against Division I competition, with their two losses coming by a total of seven points. The Seawolves opened with a 75-72 loss to eventual tournament champion Middle Tennessee on Thanksgiving and beat Drexel 71-65 on Friday. Alaska Anchorage was ahead of San Jose State at a number of points in the game, but fell in the fourth place game 91-87. The victory over Drexel was the first for UAA in the tournament since two victories in the 2012 tournament.

VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT FORCES START TIME CHANGES: The NCAA West Regional Volleyball Tournament, being hosted this weekend by Alaska Anchorage, has forced adjustments to men’s basketball start times to allow the games to be played in the Alaska Airlines Center. Thursday’s game with Central Washington will tip off at 8 p.m. (Alaska time), while Saturday’s game against Northwest Nazarene will begin at 2 p.m.

FALCONS SOARING: Perhaps no GNAC team posted a bigger win entering conference play than Seattle Pacific. The Falcons traveled south for  a big regional match-up at No. 8 Chico State and prevailed in a 62-50 win over the Wildcats on Friday. The Falcons shot 48.1 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free throw line and managed to win without making a three-pointer. They also held Chico State with 33.9 percent shooting on their home floor. Seattle Pacific went on beat Cal State East Bay on Saturday, 71-57, to go 2-0 in the Carl’s Jr., Mac Martin Invitational. The effort earned the Falcons selection as the Red Lion Hotels GNAC Team of the Week.

Senior guard Bryce Leavitt provided much of the muscle as he compiled 27 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists in the two games. Against Chico State, Leavitt came up with a monster double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds to go along with five assists.

Seattle Pacific will start GNAC play with a 5-1 record and have won five straight after a season-opening 68-60 overtime loss to Concordia-Irvine. The Falcons are getting it done on defense. While ranking ninth in the league in scoring (73.8 points per game), SPU leads the league and is 13th in Division II in scoring defense, allowing 63.7 points per game. The Falcons also ranked second in Division II in three-point defense (.208), seventh in rebounding margin (+10.8) and 10th in field goal defense (.373).

STILL PERFECT: Western Oregon will enter GNAC play on Tuesday with the league’s best overall record at 6-0. The Wolves scored a pair of wins over the Thanksgiving break at the Notre Dame de Namur Thanksgiving Classic, routing the host school 81-51 on Friday before beating Holy Names on Saturday, 84-75. Western Oregon is winning with a fairly balanced scoring attack with five players averaging 10 points or better per game.

The outlier in that consistent scoring is Andy Avgi. The senior forward is averaging 24.3 points per game in the four games he has played since returning to the hardwood from the football field. He scored a season-high 29 points in 32 minutes in the win over Holy Names and went 9 of 12 from the floor to score 24 points in the win over Notre Dame de Namur.

ALSO UNBLEMISHED: Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene will also enter GNAC play with undefeated records. The Wildcats played just one game over the Thanksgiving break, scoring a 119-82 win over NAIA Walla Walla on Saturday. Six Wildcats scored in double figures, led by 19 points from Joseph Stroud and 18 points from Gary Jacobs. Northwest Nazarene also won their one game against a NAIA opponent, scoring an 87-71 win over Eastern Oregon on Friday. Bouna N’Diaye led the Crusaders with 24 points on 8 of 16 from the field.

WELCOME TO THE GNAC: Concordia will make their debut as a GNAC men’s basketball program on Tuesday as they host Western Oregon at the Cavalier Gymnasium in Portland, The Cavaliers are in the second year of a three-year transition process to NCAA Division II membership. Concordia joins the GNAC after a long record of success in men’s basketball at the NAIA Division II level. The Cavaliers went 25-7 in their final NAIA season and advanced to the second round of the NAIA Division II National Tournament. The transition for Concordia has the potential to be rough, though, as they lost all five starters off of last year’s program. The Cavaliers enter the week with a 1-5 record with their lone win coming over former Cascade Conference rival Northwest Christian, 71-65, on Nov. 21.

CONNECTING FROM DOWNTOWN: The GNAC is coming alive when it comes to three-point shooting. Central Washington enters the week ranked 12th in Division, hitting 47.7 percent from beyond the arc. Northwest Nazarene is 21st at 43.8 percent and Saint Martin’s ranks 24th at 43.6 percent. Alaska Anchorage leads Division II with 293 three-pointers attempted and 103 made, led by the 84 attempted  and 31 made by Sekou Wiggs. Northwest Nazarene is 30th in Division II with 10.7 three-pointers taken per game. Individually, Isaac Bianchini of Saint Martin’s is 13th in three-point percentage at 57.7 percent. Northwest Nazarene’s Mike Wright is 16th at 56.3 percent and Central Washington’s Joey Roppo is 21st at 53.8 percent.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES OF NOTE: Montana State Billings’ Jace Anderson scored a career-high 30 points to help the Yellowjackets fight off Mary 98-92 last Monday. Anderson made 10 free throws in the overtime period and played a big role as Billings finished the game with just six available players...Fred Jorg of Saint Martin’s scored 28 points and had 15 rebounds in two games last week as the Saints are on their first four-game win streak since the 2010-11 season. He had 12 points and six rebounds in Tuesday’s 86-85 overtime win over Hawaii Hilo and then had 16 points and nine rebounds in the Saints’ win over Douglas.

IN THE NATIONAL POLLS: Western Oregon took a quantum leap in this week’s NABC Division II Coaches Poll, climbing six spots to No. 4. The Wolves dropped four spots in the D2SIDA Media Poll from No. 11 to No. 14 and dropped one spot in the D2SIDA West Region rankings to No. 3. Seattle Pacific climbed seven spots from No. 23 to No. 16 entering GNAC play. The Falcons were among teams receiving votes in the D2SIDA Media Poll. Both Central Washington and Western Washington are among those receiving votes in the NABC poll.

GNAC PRESEASON POLL - WESTERN WASHINGTON PICKED TO WIN: For the second year in a row, Western Washington is picked as the team to beat by conference coaches in the annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll.

The Vikings received five of 11 first place votes and a total of 114 points, finishing just ahead of defending regular season champion Western Oregon. The Wolves netted four first place votes and a total of 106 points.

Seattle Pacific, who finished second in the conference last year and won the GNAC Tournament championship, is picked third with a total of 100 points. The Falcons received the remaining two first place votes.

After a successful start in their non-conference schedule, Western Washington stumbled to lose seven of their first 10 GNAC games. The Vikings rebounded to win eight straight to end the regular season, tying for fifth to claim a spot in the GNAC Tournament. The Vikings went on to beat Alaska Anchorage and Western Oregon to claim a spot in the tournament final, where they lost to Seattle Pacific. Western Washington finished the season with a 20-11 overall record.

PRESEASON ALL-GNAC TEAM, AVGI PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Western Oregon forward Andy Avgi, the defending GNAC Player of the Year, added another award to his preseason arsenal as he was selected by the league’s head coaches as the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year. The senior was a unanimous selection for the honor, receiving 10 first place votes in the balloting (coaches could not vote for their own players).

Avgi was one of eight unanimous selections to the squad and is the only player on the list to be selected for a third year in a row. Joining him as a repeat selection on the 15-man squad were Western Washington forward Jeffrey Parker, WWU guard Ricardo Maxwell, Alaska Anchorage guard Brian McGill and Alaska guard Joe Slocum.

Other unanimous selections to the team include Parker, Maxwell, McGill, Western Oregon guard Julian Nichols, Seattle Pacific forward Mitch Penner, Montana State Billings guard/forward Momir Gataric and Central Washington center Joseph Stroud. View Complete Release

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS: The following GNAC players have been selected to all-tournament teams during the 2015-16 season:
GNAC/PacWest Crossover (Nov. 13-14, Fairbanks): Travante Williams, UAF (Most Valuable Player).
Seawolf Jamboree (Nov. 21-22, Anchorage): Sekou Wiggs, UAA (Most Outstanding Player); Bangaly Kaba, UAF; Travante Williams, UAF.
Sodexo Classic (Nov. 21-22, Seattle): Gary Jacobs, CWU (Most Valuable Player); Joseph Storud, CWU; Bryce Leavitt, SPU.
GCI Great Alaska Shootout (Nov. 25-27, Anchorage): Sekou Wiggs, UAA.

THIS WEEK'S GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sekou Wiggs
Alaska Anchorage
G • 6-4 • 190 • Jr. • Seattle, Wash.
Wiggs was named to the GCI Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team after averaging 32.7 points per game in three games against Division I competition, including a 71-65 win over Drexel. He scored 98 points in the three games, breaking the tournament scoring record of 97 set in 1993 by Purdue’s Glenn Robinson. He scored 35 points in the Seawolves’ three-point loss to tournament champion Middle Tennessee and scored 33 in the win over Drexel.

Also Nominated: Jace Anderson (Montana State Billings), Andy Avgi (Western Oregon), Fred Jorg (Saint Martin’s), Bryce Leavitt (Seattle Pacific), Bouna N’Diaye (Northwest Nazarene).