SAINTS BOUNCE BACK FROM FIRST HICCUP: No. 13 Saint Martin’s recovered from its first defeat of the season – an 80-79 overtime loss to Northwest Nazarene – with a 68-59 triumph over Central Washington to move to 8-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play. SMU will take on a pair of non-Division II schools in Evergreen State (Wednesday, 7 p.m.) and Langara (Friday, 6 p.m.) this week.

Read More: Saints Survive Central For First GNAC Win (SMU Recap)

Kyle Greeley is the fourth-leading scorer in the GNAC with 16.9 points per game, while Tyke Thompson leads the team and ranks fourth in the GNAC in rebounding with 7.3 boards per game. Jaden Nielsen-Skinner is second in the conference with 4.1 assists per game, and as a team SMU ranks second nationally in defensive rebounds per game (32.11) and ninth in field-goal percent defense (38.2).

NIGHTHAWKS PICK UP TEAM OF THE WEEK: Northwest Nazarene (4-3, 2-0 GNAC) earned GNAC Team of the Week after not only upsetting then-No. 6 SMU but also collecting a gritty 65-62 triumph over Western Oregon in a pair of tough road games to open its conference slate. The Nighthawks will square off against in-state rival College of Idaho on Wednesday night at 7:07 p.m. (MST) in its lone tilt this week.

Read More: Nighthawks Stun No. 6 Saints In GNAC Opener (NNU Recap)

Tru Allen was named the GNAC Player of the Week and ranks second in Division II with 3.57 steals per game. Allen is also the fifth-leading scorer in the conference with 16.0 points per game, while teammate Gabriel Murphy leads the league in rebounding at 9.7 boards and ranks eighth in scoring with 14.4 points.

‘JACKETS PICKING UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF: Coming off its highest-ever GNAC finish – second place in 2022-23 – Montana State Billings didn’t miss a beat on its opening weekend of league play with a pair of victories. The Yellowjackets (5-3, 2-0) took down then-No. 23 Alaska Anchorage 66-59 last Thursday before smothering Alaska in a runaway 65-39 triumph to close the week. MSUB plays host to a pair of Frontier Conference (NAIA) teams in Providence on Wednesday (7 p.m. MST) and Rocky Mountain College Saturday (5:30 p.m. MST).

Read More: ‘Jackets Complete The Alaskan Sweep (MSUB Recap)

The ’Jackets hold the second-best scoring defense in the league allowing 63.5 points per game, and hold opponents to the third-lowest field-goal percentage in the league at just 41.5. Daniel Moody (12.6 ppg) and Famous Lefthand (12.5 ppg) are the team’s leading scorers, with Moody also ranking third in the conference with 7.4 rebounds per game.

HIGH-OCTANE VIKINGS CLIP RED LEAFS: Western Washington (7-3, 1-0) was the other team to start its GNAC season undefeated, beating Simon Fraser (2-8, 0-1) 96-74 in its lone game last week. Western Washington plays host to Langara in its lone game this week on Saturday at 3 p.m. (PST).

Read More: Big Second Half Lifts Viks To Victory (WWU Recap)

The Vikings rank 16th nationally with 90.9 points per game, and have failed to reach 80 points just once in their first 10 games of the season. Kai Johnson is the top offensive producer with a GNAC-leading 21.1 points per game, and his 211 total points scored are the third-most in Division II this season. BJ Kolly leads the league with a field-goal percentage of 63.9 and Will Wilson is the team’s top perimeter shooter with a GNAC-second best mark of 50.0% (20-for-40).

ANDERSON SCORING AT WILL: Seattle Pacific’s Shaw Anderson leads Division II with 230 total points scored this season and ranks second in the conference with 19.2 points per game. The GNAC Preseason Player of the Year came up big with 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting in the Falcons’ 80-75 win over Alaska Anchorage last Saturday, and Anderson has reached 20 points in 6 of 12 games this season while shooting 45.7% overall. SPU (5-7, 1-1) takes on Douglas on Friday night at 7 p.m. (PST) at Brougham Pavilion.

Read More: Falcons Bounce Back To Knock Off Ranked Seawolves (SPU Recap)

NANOOKS SECURE 1ST GNAC WIN: Alaska (2-6, 1-1) secured its first conference win of the year with an 82-64 triumph over Seattle Pacific on opening night last Thursday. Preseason all-conference selection Abdullahi Mohamed had a team-high 17 points on a well-balanced scoring night on which six different Nanooks had nine or more points. The point total was far and away the highest of the season for Alaska, which is next in action at the Hawaii Hilo Invitational on Dec. 17-18 on the big island.

Read More: Alaska Wins GNAC Opener Against Seattle Pacific (UAF Recap)

WILDCATS SPLIT, HOST WALLA WALLA: Central Washington (5-3, 1-1) took down Western Oregon (3-5, 0-2) 81-67 on the opening night of conference play, before sputtering in a 68-59 defeat to the Saints. The ‘Cats have a stretch of three straight home games leading up to the break, and will square off against Walla Walla in an exhibition affair Saturday evening at 6 p.m. (PST) at Nicholson Pavilion. Samaad Hector is a force in the paint, ranking second in the conference with 7.8 rebounds and third in both field-goal percentage at 60.0 and blocks per game at 1.3.

Read More: Wildcats Outlast Wolves In GNAC Opener (CWU Recap)

The NABC Division II rankings are released every Monday throughout the 2023-24 season. The D2CSC regional rankings are released on Mondays, with the national rankings following on Tuesdays.

Player of the Week – Tru Allen, Northwest Nazarene

First career player of the week.

Allen propelled the Nighthawks to an overtime victory against the No. 6 Saints last Thursday, scoring 20 points while adding nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. After playing 43 minutes in the upset, Allen poured in 21 points to go along with four rebounds, five steals and two assists in NNU’s 65-62 win at Western Oregon. Allen’s five steals were the second most in a game by a GNAC player this season, with his mark of six steals on Nov. 24 against Azusa Pacific being the highest total.

“Tru right now is really impacting every possession, not just on the offensive end,” said NNU head coach Jon Hawkins. “He is doing so many things on both ends of the court right now, and it impacted the success we had last week. He’s gaining a lot of confidence and passion as a defender, and wants to guard the best players on the other end. On top of that he wants the ball in his hands to make plays for his teammates. I’ll play him 30-plus minutes and it seems like he never gets tired. He wants to steal the ball, get deflections, and disrupt the other team. It was cool to see what he is capable of doing, and he was able to gain confidence from last week’s performance.”

Also Nominated: Dillon Barrientos, UAA; Samaad Hector, CWU; Jalen Tot, MSUB; Myles Samuels, SMU; David Penney, SFU; Jason Gallant, WOU; Kai Johnson, WWU.

The 2023-24 GNAC Men’s Basketball Championships will be held March at Nicholson Pavilion on the campus of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash. The top-six teams in the final GNAC regular-season standings will advance to the single-elimination tournament. The winner of the event will earn the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA West Region Championships.