Tuesday, December 8, 2015

AND THEN THERE WAS ONE: Entering the first weekend of GNAC play, three teams had undefeated records. By the end of the weekend, only one squad, Western Oregon, emerged with an unblemished overall mark.

The Wolves opened GNAC play with a pair of convincing wins. In the league season opener on Tuesday at Concordia, the Wolves shot 50.7 percent from the field and 46.4 percent from three-point range to score a 92-59 victory over the Cavaliers. Western did themselves a little better on Saturday, shooting 56.5 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc to beat Montana State Billings 91-69.

The Wolves are outscoring their opponents by 17.5 points per game, best in the GNAC, and also lead the league in turnover margin at 6.88, 10th best in Division II, and steals (11.13 per game). Western Oregon enters the week second in the league in scoring defense (67.2 points allowed per game), field goal percentage (.499), three-point percentage (.390), rebounding defense (31.0 rebounds allowed per game) and assist/turnover ratio (1.52). In the NCAA Division II stats, Western Oregon is seventh in steals per game, eighth in total steals, , 10th in turnover margin, 12th in assist/turnover ratio, 21st in turnovers per game (11.0), 28th in field goal percentage and 30th in scoring defense and turnovers forced (17.88).

LEADERS OF THE PACK: Western Oregon forward Andy Avgi has seemingly picked up where he left off. The senior forward was named the GNAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week after he turned in back-to-back 27-point performances in the Wolves’ wins last week. He shot 10 of 16 from the field and 4 of 5 from three-point range in Tuesday’s win over Concordia. Avgi then went 12 of 16 from the field and 3 of 6 from three-point range in the Saturday win over Montana State Billings. In the two games, Avgi shot 68.7 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from three-point range. Avgi enters the week leading the GNAC and seventh in Division II with 25.2 points per game. He also leads the GNAC with a .632 three-point percentage.

Avgi’s teammate, Tanner Omlid, has been an impact player of his own in the Wolves’ run to their 8-0 start. While only scoring five points in the win over Concordia, he came alive for 19 points on 7 of 8 from the field, 2 of 2 from three-point range and 3 of 3 from three-point range in the Saturday victory over Montana State BIllings. Omlid is shooting 73.2 percent from the field, leading the GNAC and ranking sixth in Division II. Omlid also leads Division II with an average of 3.33 steals per gane and is 15th in the nation with 20 total steals in six games played.

FALCONS CREST: Equally as impressive is Seattle Pacific’s continued run. The Falcons have won seven straight since losing their season opener in an overtime loss to Concordia-Irvine. Seattle Pacific swept a pair of road games to open the GNAC schedule. They shot 52 percent from the floor and 85 percent from the free throw line (23-27) in their 89-55 win at Simon Fraser on Thursday. The Falcons turned around and shot 49 percent from the field and outrebounded Western Washington 38-28 in their 83-64 win on Saturday.

Joe Rasmussen was the Falcon’s impact player against Simon Fraser. The junior center came off the bench to score 18 points in 19 minutes, connecting on 6 of 8 from the field and 3 of 3 from three-point range. Senior transfer center Gilles Dierickx led the Falcons on Saturday as he scored 14 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. He made 6 of 12 from the field.

Seattle Pacific enters the week leading the GNAC and is ranked 22nd in Division II in field goals percentage at .504. The Falcons also lead the GNAC and rank fifth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 62.6 points per game. Seattle Pacific leads the nation in three-point percentage defense, allowing teams just 21.7 percent from outside.

NORTH TO ALASKA: The other two teams to make it through the opening weekend of the conference season at 2-0 were the Alaska schools. Despite having to change game times because of the Division II West Region Volleyball Regional, Alaska Anchorage succeeded in scoring a 93-65 rout of Central Washington on Thursday and added a solid 90-78 win over Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.

Junior transfer guard Sekou Wiggs led the Seawolves in both games. He scored 21 points on 8 of 17 from the field in the win over CWU and then added 24 points on 9 of 12 from the field and 3 of 4 from three-point range in the win over Northwest Nazarene. Wiggs enters the week ranked second in the GNAC and 17th in Division II with an average of 23.9 points per game. Wiggs also continues to lead Division II in free throws attempts (112) and made (84), field goals attempts (196) and made (90) and total minutes (403).

Wiggs teammate, Corey Hammell, also made an impact in the two games. He had his Division II leading seventh double-double of the season on Saturday, finsihing with 17 points and 17 rebounds in the win over Northwest Nazarene. On Thursday, Hammell came up with 19 points and 13 rebounds in the win over CWU. Hammell also leads Division II in total rebounds (118) and offensive rebounds per game (5.00).

Alaska also won both of their games to open GNAC play, carding a 77-72 win over Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and beating Central Washington 81-72 on Saturday. The Nanooks rode the back of senior transfer Travante Williams. He scored 21 points and had 12 rebounds and four steals in Thursday win over NNU and then scored 19 points with seven steals and four blocks in the win over Central Washington. Williams enters the week ranked third in Division II in steals, averaging 3.25 steals per game.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES OF NOTE: Northwest Nazarene’s Detwon Rogers scored 25 points and had 11 rebounds in their Thursday loss at Alaska. He also connected for 10 of 16 from the free throw line...The Crusaders’ Pol Olivier scored 24 points in Saturday’s loss to Alaska Anchorage...Simon Fraser’s Max Barkeley went off for 26 points and went 6 for 6 from the free thow line in Saturday’s loss to Saint Martin’s...The Saints’ Brandon Kevilvort had 15 points in 13 minutes off the bench in the same game...Western Washington’s Ricardo Maxwell scored 18 points in Saturday’s loss to Seattle Pacific. Teammate Kyle Impero finished short of a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds in Thursday’s win over Saint Martin’s.

QUITE THE DISH: It takes creators to make the shots and GNAC teams are among the best the best when it comes to creating. Four GNAC teams are ranked in the NCAA Division II top-30 in assists: Central Washington (10th, 18.5 per game), Northwest Nazarene and Alaska Anchorage (18.0 per game, tied for 15th) and Alaska (17.5 per game, 28th). Alaska Anchorage leads Division II with 216 total assists with Western Washington 25th (141) and Alaska 29th (140). Northwest Nazarene’s Mike Wright is ranked eighth in Division II with 7.2 assists per game. Central Washington’s Devin Matthews is 10th with 6.7 assists per game and Seattle Pacific’s Bryce Leavitt is 22nd with 5.9 assists per game. Alaska Anchorage’s Sekou Wiggs is ranked eighth with 52 total assists while Leavitt is 17th with 47.

IN THE NATIONAL POLLS: Western Oregon’s star continues to rise. The Wolves moved up one spot to No. 3 in this week’s NABC Division II Rankings and eight spots to No. 6 in the D2SIDA Division II Media Poll. Seattle Pacific moved up three spots to No. 13 on the NABC poll and earned a spot in the D2SIDA poll for the first time this season at No. 23. Central Washington and Western Washington, who had received votes in last week’s poll, did not appear in this week’s listing.

THE WEEK AHEAD: This weekend will feature the last full weekend of games before conference play resumes on New Year’s Eve. The weekend is led by the Oak Harbor Freight Lines Classic in Seattle, which will have Montana State Billings and host Seattle Pacific take on Azusa Pacific and Northwest (Wash.). Alaska will host Northwest Indian in a pair of games while Western Oregon and Northwest Nazarene will host single games.

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.

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 MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Andy Avgi
Western Oregon
F • 6-6 • 260 • Sr. • Woodburn, Ore.
The GNAC Preseason Player of the Year turned in a pair of 27-point performances as the Wolves improved to 8-0 with victories over Concordia and Montana State Billings. He shot 68.7 percent from the floor, which included seven three-pointers, and finished with 10 rebounds and three blocks. Avgi enters the week leading the GNAC in scoring (25.2 points per game and three-point percentage (.632).

Also Nominated: Cade Alcorn (Montana State Billings), Max Barkeley (Simon Fraser), Gilles Dierickx (Seattle Pacific), Corey Hammell (Alaska Anchorage), Fred Jorg (Saint Martin’s), Detwon Rogers (Northwest Nazarene).