Wednesday, October 30, 2019

PORTLAND, Ore. – After finishing his junior campaign as the only player in the conference to rank in the top-five in both scoring and rebounding, Western Washington senior forward Trevor Jasinsky leads the selections to the 2019-20 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team.

Jasinsky was voted by the conference’s head coaches as the Preseason Player of the Year after the Vikings were also selected as the favorite in the preseason coaches poll. A First Team All-GNAC and D2CCA All-West Region selection in 2019, Jasinsky finished the year ranked second in the GNAC with 19.1 points per game and ranked fourth with 7.1 rebounds per game. He is the top returning player to the GNAC in both categories.

Jasinsky also ranked seventh in the GNAC with 2.2 three-pointers made per game while leading the GNAC and ranking 26th in Division II with a .887 free throw percentage.

The senior is one of eight All-GNAC selections to be named to the Preseason All-Conference Team and is one of two first-team selections named to the team. Alaska Anchorage senior guard/forward Tyler Brimhall is the other returning first-team selection.

Also on the list of returning all-conference performers is Seattle Pacific senior guard Gavin Long, Simon Fraser junior center Julian Roche, Montana State Billings senior guard Tyler Green and sophomore forward Brendan Howard; Central Washington senior guard Gamaun Boykin and Northwest Nazarene senior guard Jayden Bezzant.

Rounding out the Preseason All-Conference selections is Western Oregon junior guard Darius Lubom and senior guard Dalven Brushier; Seattle Pacific junior guard Harry Cavell, Western Washington senior center Logan Schilder, Central Washington junior guard Davon Bolton, Alaska Anchorage senior forward Niko Bevens and Simon Fraser senior guard Michael Provenzano.

Brimhall was the only other GNAC athlete to rank in the conference’s top-10 in both scoring and rebounding, finishing fourth with 18.7 points per game and seventh with 6.5 rebounds per game. He shot 47.1 percent from the field, 42.3 percent from beyond the arc and 83.2 percent from the free throw line. Bevens, his frontcourt mate, averaged 12.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per contest. Brimhall and Bevens were the only two UAA players to start in all 28 games last season.

Long and Cavell played key roles in the Falcons’ run to the GNAC championship and the NCAA Division II West Region semifinals. Long was SPU’s leading scorer, ranking ninth in the GNAC with 14.4 points per game. His 55.7 percent made from the field was eighth in the conference and he also made 46.2 percent from three-point range. Cavell moved into a starting role after playing as a reserve as a freshman, averaging 10.2 points per game with 49 assists and a team-leading 30 steals.

Roche and Provenzano were prime movers behind Simon Fraser’s best-ever finish as a GNAC program and its first GNAC Championships appearance. Roche averaged 13.4 points per game to lead the Clan and was fifth in the GNAC with 6.6 rebounds per game. He shot 55.3 percent from the field, 39.5 percent from the three-point line and averaged just under a block per game. Provenzano averaged 10.3 points per game and led the conference with his five assists per game (145 total).

Bezzant excelled in a sixth-man role as he helped lead Northwest Nazarene to a third-place regular-season finish. Playing in 26 games with eight starts, Bezzant averaged 13.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. He connected on 54.4 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from three-point range.

Lubom and Brushier both saw significant starting as Western Oregon placed fourth in the regular-season standings and advanced to the GNAC Championships final for the fourth consecutive year. Lubom played in all 33 games, starting 15, and averaged 10.5 points per game while shooting 50.9 percent from the field. Brushier started in 22 games and averaged 10.3 points per game. He shot 41.8 percent from the arc.

Howard was named the GNAC Freshman of the Year after he led Montana State Billings and ranked fifth in the GNAC with 15.7 points per game. He also averaged 5.2 rebounds per game while shooting 53.5 percent from the field. Green was just behind Howard in scoring, ranking sixth in the GNAC with 15.1 points per game and fifth in the league with 3.6 assists per contest.

Schilder returns to the Western Washington lineup after taking a redshirt season in 2018-19. In 28 starts during the 2017-18 campaign, Schilder averaged 7.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game to rank 10th in the GNAC. He shot 59.7 percent from the field, ranking fourth in the conference, to go with 39 blocks.

Boykin is one of two returning starters for Central Washington and averaged 12 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest. He finished the year ranked fourth in the GNAC with 3.6 assists per contest. Bolton is the lone newcomer named to the team. A junior transfer from Eastern Arizona College, Bolton was an Honorable Mention NJCAA All-American after he averaged 19.6 points per game.

The 2019-20 GNAC men’s basketball season commences on Saturday as Alaska Anchorage hosts Portland Bible. The majority of conference teams open the weekend of Nov. 8, 9 and 10. Conference play opens on Tuesday, Dec. 3 when Simon Fraser hosts Western Washington.

2019-20 GNAC MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Preseason Player of the Year: Trevor Jasinsky, Western Washington