Wednesday, January 24, 2024
by Evan O'Kelly, Assistant Commissioner For Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – Extending their winning streak to nine games and upending first-place Montana State Billings last week, Saint Martin’s achieved the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s first No. 1 national ranking since the 2015-16 season.

The latest D2CSC polls slated the Saints No. 1 in Division II basketball, as SMU garnered 377 points to dethrone Minnesota State (375 points). SMU received two first-place votes in the latest media poll, and became the first GNAC team to appear at No. 1 in the two major polls since Western Oregon achieved the feat on Feb. 15, 2016.

The Saints (16-1, 6-1 GNAC) also achieved their highest ranking of the year in the NABC rankings, checking in at No. 2 in the poll that is officially listed on the NCAA website. SMU checked in just below No. 1 West Texas A&M in the latest coaches poll.

Read More: Saints Make History W/First-Ever #1 National Ranking (SMU Release)

CAN ANYONE SLOW DOWN THE REIGNING CHAMPS? Saint Martin’s got through defensive-minded MSUB 69-63 last week, handing the Yellowjackets their first conference loss of the season. An even sturdier defense awaits the Saints this week, as they travel to Anchorage to face the third-ranked scoring defense in Division II with the Seawolves allowing just 61.6 points per game.

Kyle Greeley continues to be the heartbeat of the Saints, ranking third in the GNAC in both scoring (16.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg). Tyke Thompson had a big week in helping the Saints climb within a half game of first place, with 18 points, nine boards, four assists and three steals in the victory over MSUB.

The Seawolves (14-4, 4-3) responded well from a 92-83 loss to Western Washington by running away from Simon Fraser 71-49 during a split road week. The point total allowed to the Red Leafs was tied for UAA’s second-lowest this season, as they’ll look for a repeat performance against the 21st-ranked scoring offense in Division II in SMU (86.6 ppg).

Read More: Seawolves Tear Up Red Leafs For GNAC Road Victory (UAA Recap)

Alaska Anchorage is keyed offensively by Tyson Gilbert, who ranks sixth in the GNAC with 14.2 points per game. Gilbert also ranks second in the conference in assist-turnover ratio at 3.3, while Dillon Barrientos is seventh in that category at 2.4. Sawyer Storms leads the Seawolves in rebounding, ranking seventh in the GNAC with 6.3 boards per game. UAA is undefeated inside the Alaska Airlines Center this season, putting a perfect 8-0 home record on the line against Western Oregon Thursday and the No. 2 Saints on Saturday.

NIELSEN-SKINNER AMONG GNAC’S ALL-TIME ELITE PGS: Entering the week, Jaden Nielsen-Skinner ranks fifth in GNAC history in assists per game with 5.65. Across his three seasons in an SMU uniform, the Salem, Ore., native has racked up 384 assists, which slots him 17th in conference history. Nielsen-Skinner’s assist-turnover ratio of 3.65 this season is seventh-best in Division II basketball, and he leads the GNAC with 4.6 assists per game.

ARCHRIVALS MEET AT NICHOLSON PAVILION: Thursday night features a rivalry matchup at Nicholson Pavilion in Ellensburg, as two of the four teams that are tied for third place in the GNAC standings will go head to head. Central Washington (11-5, 4-3) is coming off a convincing 82-58 victory over Northwest Nazarene in its lone game last week. The Wildcats will look to parlay their back-to-back wins into momentum against Western Washington (12-6, 4-3) in the first game of the week. The Vikings broke out of a three-game skid last week, topping Alaska Anchorage 92-83 before running away from Alaska 119-92 with the highest point total by a team within GNAC play so far in 2023-24.

Kai Johnson upped his season scoring average to 22.2 points per game, which ranks 11th nationally, by virtue of scoring 29 points in each of the Vikings’ wins last week. Johnson’s 400 total points scored are fourth most among Division II players. WWU’s Will Wilson ranks fourth in the conference in scoring with 16.1 points per game, and Nic Welp is third in the league in rebounding at 7.4 boards per game.

Read More: Johnson Earns GNAC Player Of The Week (WWU Story)

The Wildcats will look to the presence of Samaad Hector to try to slow down the fast-paced Vikings, as he ranks second in the GNAC with 8.0 rebounds per game and leads the league with 1.4 blocks per game. Offensively, Anjaylo Lloyd leads CWU and ranks seventh in the GNAC with 14.1 points per game while shooting 41.8% from 3-point range.

Read More: Wildcats Host Rivalry Game In Nicholson (CWU Preview)

FIRST-PLACE ‘JACKETS HOST FALCONS: Montana State Billings (13-5, 7-1) enters the week in first place by a half game and will host Seattle Pacific (11-10, 4-4) on Saturday after a bye on Thursday. The Yellowjackets topped Western Oregon 69-60 after coming up just short on the road against the Saints, and can guarantee that they’ll stay at least tied for first at the end of the week if they beat SPU on Saturday.

Daniel Moody continued to build his case as a GNAC Newcomer of the Year candidate, as he leads the league in rebounding (8.4), ranks fifth in assists (3.2) and ranks ninth in scoring (13.8). Jalen Tot is the Yellowjackets’ leading scorer with 14.1 points per game, while adding 1.4 steals per game.

Read More: Yellowjackets Bounce Back W/Win Over WOU (MSUB Recap)

SPU’s Shaw Anderson continued his ascent in the GNAC record books, climbing to No. 14 in conference history with 1,732 points scored. Anderson ranks second in the league and 30th nationally with 20.2 points per game, while his 425 total points scored this season are second-most in Division II. Anderson is also fourth in the Seattle Pacific record books, trailing David Downs (1,786 points), Dustin Bremerman (1,797 points) and Loren Anderson (1,948 points).

Anjaylo Lloyd – Central Washington

Coming to life offensively in his last two games, Lloyd put up 29 points against Alaska and 32 points against Northwest Nazarene to help the Wildcats keep their league record above .500. Lloyd enters the week having made 20 of his last 28 field goals (.714) including 14 of 18 threes (.778). Lloyd has also been near-perfect from the free-throw line, making 30 of 31 shots this season (.968). His lone miss was on Nov. 11, as he carries a streak of 28 makes in-a-row into this weekend’s games. Lloyd also enters the week as the GNAC leader in made threes per game with 2.4.

Winners of nine straight, SMU climbed to No. 1 in the D2CSC rankings and No. 2 in the NABC poll. The Saints held pat at No. 1 in the D2CSC west region rankings for the fourth consecutive week, while MSUB climbed four spots to No. 6, Alaska Anchorage cracked into the top-10 and Western Washington received votes.

The initial Bevo Francis Award top-100 list featured the name of Saint Martin’s senior guard Kyle Greeley. The award honors the top player within small college basketball annually, and will be refined later in the season as the field of candidates is narrowed down.

With non-conference play having concluded for the 2023-24 season, the GNAC realized notable success among the three NCAA Division II west region conferences. GNAC schools went 29-23 (.558) against CCAA and PacWest opposition during early season competition. Saint Martin’s led the way going 5-0 against the PacWest and 2-0 against the CCAA, while Central Washington went 4-2 against regional foes.

Read More: GNAC Post Winning Marks Against CCAA, PacWest Hoops Opposition (GNAC Commissioner’s Corner)

Through games Jan. 23.