Wednesday, February 7, 2024
by Evan O'Kelly, Assistant Commissioner For Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – After upsetting No. 13 Saint Martin’s on the road last week, Simon Fraser grabbed a pair of victories to pull itself right into the thick of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference playoff push.

The Red Leafs (5-17, 3-8 GNAC) earned GNAC Team of the Week honors after a pair of gutsy performances, beating Western Oregon 88-87 in overtime last Thursday before the monumental 74-72 win at Marcus Pavilion last Saturday. With four weeks remaining in the 2023-24 regular season, all 10 conference teams are alive in the push towards the GNAC Championships.

The Red Leafs’ upset was among six wins last week by GNAC teams who were lower in the standings than their opponents, as the conference standings were shaken up in a big way ahead of this week’s slate.

FRESHLY MINTED PENNEY: Simon Fraser senior guard David Penney earned GNAC Player of the Week honors, after leading his team to a pair of wins that might just have saved their season. Not only has SFU come back to life in the quest for a top-six finish in the conference standings, the Red Leafs proved they could beat the league’s top ranked team on the road. With last week’s upset under their belt, the Red Leafs will have a chance to do it again as they host first-place Montana State Billings (15-6, 9-2) on Thursday night at the West Gym.

Read More: Red Leafs Make History With Win At SMU (SFU Recap)

One of the top facilitators in the league, Penney is fourth in the GNAC with 3.3 assists per game while chipping in 11.3 points. Elliot Dimaculangan is the team’s top scorer at 11.7 points per game, and rebounder at 4.8 boards per game. The Yellowjackets have their share of the league’s most well-rounded players as well, with Jalen Tot ranking fifth in scoring (15.4 ppg), eighth in assists (3.0 apg) and third in steals (1.7 spg). Newcomer Daniel Moody meanwhile averages 13.2 points per game while ranking second in the league with 8.1 rebounds per game. The Yellowjackets bounced back from just their second league loss of the year – 70-65 vs. NNU last Thursday – with a 76-69 triumph over the Wildcats to keep themselves one game ahead of SMU at the top of the GNAC standings.

Read More: ‘Jackets Are Back On Top After 76-69 Victory (MSUB Recap)

SFU wasn’t the only team to surge up the standings last week, as Seattle Pacific (13-11, 6-5) completed a pair of upsets at home to climb into a tie for fourth place in the standings. Saturday’s matchup between the Red Leafs and Falcons at 7 p.m. (Pacific) should be another highlight contest between two teams hungry for a postseason berth.

A last-second, putback layup by Shaw Anderson sealed SPU’s 77-75 win over Central Washington last Thursday, and the Falcons followed through with a 66-64 triumph over Northwest Nazarene on Saturday. Anderson upped his scoring average to 20.6 points per game, and eclipsed 1,800 career points as he cracked into the top-10 scorers in the history of the conference. Anderson enters the week No. 2 in Seattle Pacific history with 1,802 points.

Read More: Critical Conference Games Await Falcons Up North (SPU Preview)

NANOOKS TAKE ONE IN ANCHORAGE: Yet another upset took place at The Last Frontier with Alaska (5-13, 3-7) pulling off a 65-49 triumph over Alaska Anchorage (15-6, 5-5) at the Alaska Airlines Center last Saturday. It was the Nanooks’ first victory in Anchorage in more than two decades, with the last coming on Feb. 22, 2003. Like SFU and SPU, the Nanooks gained momentum and are just two games back of a playoff berth heading into a big road weekend.

Abdullahi Mohamed has been the heartbeat of the Nanooks all season, and enters the week fourth in the GNAC in scoring (15.8 ppg), seventh in rebounding (6.5 rpg), third in blocks (1.1 bpg) and 12th in assists (2.5 apg). Mohamed was instrumental in the Nanooks holding their opponent to its lowest point total of the season, producing a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double and adding a pair of blocks. Demarcus Hall-Scriven also had a double-double against the Seawolves with 14 points and 10 boards.

Read More: Nanooks Win In Anchorage For First Time Since 2003 (UAF Recap)

WILDCATS, NIGHTHAWKS STILL IN GOOD SHAPE: Despite a pair of losses last week, Central Washington (13-7, 6-5) remains above .500 in league play and enters the week in a tie for fourth place in the standings. The Nighthawks meanwhile, settled for a 1-1 road week with the narrow loss at SPU after their big upset of MSUB. NNU (11-8, 7-4) sits one game back of Saint Martin’s in third place entering the week. The travel partners will each play host to the Alaska schools this week, with four games that will have major implications on the GNAC standings by the time the dust settles on Saturday night.

Read More: Seawolves Aim For Road Wins At NNU, CWU (UAA Preview)

CWU’s Samaad Hector continues to perform at an all-conference level, entering the week leading the GNAC in blocks (1.4 bpg) and rebounds (8.5 rpg) while chipping in 13.4 points per game. For the Nighthawks, Gabriel Murphy is fourth in the conference with 7.6 boards per game, brother Aaron Murphy is third in the league in field-goal percentage at 57.1 and Ryzin Bergersen leads the team in scoring with 13.3 points per game.

Read More: Wildcats Set To Clash With Alaska Schools (CWU Preview)

SAINTS AS GUTSY AS THEY COME: Saint Martin’s rarely loses a game, and when it does it’s by the slimmest of margins. The GNAC’s top-ranked team has lost its three games this season by a combined six points, and none of them by more than a single possession. The theme of neck-and-neck games held true twice last week, as SMU started off with a last-second, 77-75 triumph over Western Washington. Myles Samuels was the hero last Thursday, producing the steal and breakaway layup that won the game to cap off an 11-point performance.

Read More: Samuels’ Snaffle-And-Score Wins It (SMU Recap)

The Saints begin a three-game road stretch, which culminates in a must-see affair at MSUB on Feb. 17, at Western Oregon on Saturday in their lone game this week. Jaden Nielsen-Skinner leads the GNAC and ranks 36th nationally with 5.0 assists per game, and remained at No. 5 in GNAC history with a career average of 5.71 assists per game. Nielsen-Skinner’s 411 total career assists rank him No. 12 on the GNAC all-time list, and he has achieved the figure playing just three seasons in the conference. All 11 players ahead of him on the total career assists leaders chart played four full seasons in the conference.

VIKINGS HOST BIG MATCHUPS AT CARVER GYM: Western Washington (13-9, 5-6) plays host to Seattle Pacific on Thursday at 7 p.m. (Pacific) and Montana State Billings on Saturday at 7 p.m. (Pacific) in a pair of games that could have big implications on the standings. WWU enters the week in seventh place, and is just a half game behind sixth-place Alaska Anchorage. After enduring a gut-wrenching loss at Saint Martin’s, WWU bounced back well with a 78-62 triumph over Western Oregon last Saturday.

Kai Johnson continues to lead the GNAC and rank seventh in Division II with 22.2 points per game. Will Wilson is sixth in the league with 15.0 points per game, Jonathan Ned is fifth in steals with 1.6 per game and Nic Welp ranks fifth in rebounding with 7.5 per game.

WATCH: Insane Kai Johnson Dunk Goes Viral On SC Top-10 (WWU Release)

Shakeem Alcindor – Saint Martin’s

The 6-foot-8 center has been a difference-maker for the Saints this season, making 13 starts and averaging 7.3 points and 4.0 rebounds in just 14.0 minutes per game. The senior was instrumental in the team’s victory over Western Washington last week, as he made 6 of 8 field goals on his way to a season-high 14 points in an efficient 16 minutes of game time. Alcindor added five rebounds in the win, matching his second-highest single-game total of the 2023-24 season. Alcindor has reached double figures in scoring eight times this season, and his physical presence should be key in SMU’s upcoming matchup against Western Oregon.

Saint Martin’s slipped to No. 13 in the latest NABC rankings and a tie for ninth in the D2CSC rankings and fell out of the No. 1 spot in the D2CSC regional rankings for the first time in seven weeks. Sixth-ranked MSUB and 10th-ranked Alaska Anchorage joined SMU in the latest regional rankings.

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 Feb. 6.