GNAC Men's Basketball

GNAC Men's 2007-08 Basketball Players-of-the-Week

Week of Nov. 12-18: Adam Shildmyer, Northwest Nazarene (G, 6-5, Jr., Bremerton, WA – King's West & Olympic CC) shot 65 percent from the floor (13 of 20) and scored a team-best 34 points as the Crusaders, who were picked to finish seventh in the GNAC Coaches' poll, opened their 2007-08 season with wins over Chico State and Notre Dame de Namur in the Tarp-It Classic at Ellensburg. Shildmyer scored 12 of his 16 points in the second-half in Friday's 14-point win over Chico State, then scored a game-high 18 in a four-point win over Notre Dame de Namur to earn all-tournament honors.


Graham	Krichevsky

Week of Nov. 19-25: Ira Graham, Western Washington (G, 6-1, Jr., Fontana, CA) and Brad Krichevsky, Western Oregon (G, 5-10, Sr., Beaverton, OR – Pacific). . .Graham scored 34 points (12-23 FG, 1-4 3-FG, 9-11 FTs) to earn MVP honors in the 10 th annual Chuck Randall Classic. He also had five rebounds, three steals and seven assists. In three wins, including a 12-point victory over Cal State Monterey Bay on Monday, Graham netted 66 points on 60 percent shooting (24-40) and had 10 rebounds, five steals and 11 assists and did not commit a turnovers. He made four of nine treys and 14 of 16 free throws. . Krichevsky scored 36 points as the Wolves split two games at the North Dakota Invitational, defeating 15 th ranked Montevallo 80-73 before losing on a shot with four seconds left to host North Dakota 60-58. Krichevsky, who also had nine steals, made 12 of 24 shots, eight of 17 from the arc. He also had six assists

Week of Nov. 26-Dec. 2: Kendall Gielow, Northwest Nazarene (F, 6-7, So., Medford, OR – South Medford) scored 31 points and also had seven rebounds and four assists as the Crusaders won a pair of games to improve to 4-0. Gielow made 13 of 21 shots, three of five from the three-point line.


Joel Ryman	Carl Arts

Week of Dec. 3-9: Carl Arts, Alaska Anchorage (F, 6-6, Sr., Valdez, AK) and Joel Ryman, Northwest Nazarene (G, 6-0, Jr., Spokane, WA – Northwest Christian). . .Arts scored 34 points and also had 21 rebounds, six assists and three steals to lead the Seawolves to two wins over Texas-Permian Basin. He became the 31 st member of the GNAC 1,000-point club in the process increasing his career total to 1,017. He is the GNAC career active leader in both points and rebounds, ranking 15 th in the latter category with 551. . .Ryman came off the bench to score 36 points leading the Crusaders to a pair of wins and the team championship in the Wendy's Classic at Caldwell, Idaho. Ryman made seven of 12 three-pointers, including back-to-back treys during a key 10-0 run in Saturday's 80-70 win over Montana Western. Ryman made 10 of 18 shots overall and nine of 10 free throws.

Week of Dec. 17-23: Marques Echols, Seattle Pacific (G, 6-2, Sr., Seattle, WA – Garfield & Peninsula CC) scored 58 points in leading the Falcons to wins over Colorado Mines and BYU-Hawaii in the BYU-Hawaii Holiday Classic. Echols made 23 of 37 shots, including 11 of 20 three-pointers and also had seven rebounds, nine assists and four steals. He scored 33 points, 27 in the second-half in Saturday's 75-73 road win against the nationally ninth ranked Seasiders as the Falcons improved to 6-1.


Bryant	Jackson

Week of Dec. 24-30: Chris Bryant, Alaska Anchorage (G, 6-4, Sr., Metlakatla, AK) and Nate Jackson, Central Washington (G, 6-0, Sr., Seattle, WA – Cleveland & HCC). . .Bryant was selected the Most Outstanding Player as he led the Seawolves to two wins in the AT&T Alascom Jamboree at Anchorage. The Drake transfer scored 40 points, connecting on 15 of 27 shots, including nine of 19 treys. He also had 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. The two wins improved UAA's Division II record to a perfect 9-0. . .Jackson scored 28 points and also had four rebounds, four assists and five steals as CWU earned wins over Sonoma State and Concordia, Ore., in the Phoenix Inn & Suites Classic at Monmouth. The CWU point guard made 11 of 13 shots and was selected to the all-tournament team.

Week of Dec. 31-Jan. 6: McCade Olsen, Alaska Anchorage (F, 6-8, Sr., Riverton, UT – Eastern Wyoming) scored 36 points and had 12 rebounds in leading the Seawolves to two road victories. Olsen made 14 of 23 shots and also had three assists in the two wins, which included a GNAC record-setting defensive performance in a 66-42 victory at Saint Martin's. In the latter game, he held the Saints' Bill Richardson to four points, nine below his season average.


Beitinger	Cooper

Week of Jan. 7-13: Jake Beitinger, Central Washington (F, 6-8, Jr., Port Orchard, WA – South Kitsap) and Luke Cooper, Alaska Anchorage (G, 6-0, Sr., Melbourne, Australia). . .Beitinger, a transfer from Eastern Washington, scored 39 points and pulled down 21 rebounds as the Wildcats swept a pair of home games. Beitinger had 17 rebounds against Saint Martin's, the most for a CWU player since 2001. He also blocked three shots against the Saints. . .Cooper tied his own GNAC single-game record with 16 assists increasing his GNAC career-record total to 704 as the Seawolves extended their win streak to 10 with a 20-point win against Alaska Fairbanks. Cooper, who had just one turnover in playing all 40 minutes, also had three rebounds and made his only field goal attempt on the evening.


Linton	McLaughlin

Week of Jan. 14-20: Mike McLaughlin, Western Oregon (F, 6-7, So., Lake Oswego, OR) and Jake Linton, Saint Martin's (G, 5-10, Jr., Lynnwood, WA – Meadowdale). . .McLaughlin and Linton led their respective teams to a pair of wins, including victories over defending GNAC co-champion Seattle University. McLaughlin scored 36 points, connecting on 16 of 23 shots, and also had 14 rebounds and four assists as the Wolves earned their first two conference wins of the season, defeating the Redhawks 78-72 and Montana State Billings 85-72. . .Linton took just 11 shots, but helped produce 59 points in wins over the Yellowjackets (81-52) and Seattle U. (88-77). He made seven of 11, including six of eight three-pointers and was perfect (16-16) at the foul line. In addition to his 36 points, he also had 11 assists and six steals and just two turnovers. His 11 assists led to an additional 23 Saint points.

Week of Jan. 28-Feb. 3: Luke Cooper, Alaska Anchorage (G, 6-0, Sr., Melbourne, Australia), who was named one of 16 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award Friday, scored 30 points and had 19 assists to lead the Seawolves to home wins over 24th ranked Seattle Pacific and 23rd ranked Northwest Nazarene. Cooper had a season-high 18 points and eight assists against NNU and 12 points and 11 assists against Seattle Pacific to record his third double-double of the season as UAA became the first team in GNAC history to finish the first-half of the conference season unbeaten.

Week of Feb. 4-10: Michael Wright, Seattle University (F, 6-5, Jr., Lakewood, WA - Pierce) scored 29 points and also had 10 rebounds, five assists and seven steals as the Redhawks put themselves back into the race for a NCAA post-season playoff berth with road wins at Northwest Nazarene and Seattle Pacific. Wright missed just three shots (14 of 17) in the two contests and had key steals and key rebounds in the wins at NNU and SPU, respectively.

Week of Feb. 11-17: Johnny Spevak, Central Washington (G, 6-3, Jr., Edgewood, WA – Puyallup) earned an assist on the game-winning basket and played outstanding defense in leading the Wildcats to an overtime win over Alaska Anchorage, snapping the Seawolves' 18-game win streak. Spevak had the main defensive responsibility on Chris Bryant, who was held to three points, 10 below his average. In addition to his defense (team-high four steals) and play-making contributions (5 assists), he scored 15 points, connecting on six of 12 shots, including three of seven three-pointers as the Wildcats won a pair of games. He also had seven rebounds and did not commit a foul in the two home wins.

Weeks of Jan. 21-27 and Feb. 18-24: Carl Arts, Alaska Anchorage (F, 6-6, Sr., Valdez, AK) scored 40 points and had 19 rebounds to key a two-game road sweep on Jan. 24 and Jan. 26 as the Seawolves tied a school record with their 13th and 14th consecutive victories. Arts made 15 of 26 shots and eight of nine free throws. Seven of his rebounds came at the offensive end. During the Week of Feb. 18-24, Arlt scored 44 points and also pulled down 11 rebounds as the Seawolves protected their No. 1 regional ranking with a pair of home wins. Arts made 18 of 26 shots (69.2 percent), including all three of his three-point attempts. He also was five of six from the foul line.

Week of Feb. 25-March 2: Rob Will, Seattle Pacific (C, 6-10, Sr., Seattle, WA – O'Dea) was nearly perfect converting on 21 of 22 shots as the Falcons solidified their No. 3 West Regional ranking and all but clinched a playoff berth with wins over Alaska Fairbanks and regionally top-ranked Alaska Anchorage. Will, who set a GNAC record by making 22 consecutive shots going back to SPU's previous contest at Western Oregon on Feb. 23, finished the week with 48 points, 17 rebounds and five blocked shots.


Penoncello	Richardson

Week of Mar. 3-9: Matt Penoncello, Central Washington (G, 6-5, Jr., Moscow, ID) and Bill Richardson, Saint Martin's (F, 6-7, Jr., Shelton, WA – Grays Harbor CC). . .Penoncello scored 61 points, including a GNAC season-high 34 in a 105-96 overtime win over Seattle Pacific, as the Wildcats closed out their season with a 10-game winning streak, the longest current streak in the region. In two wins, Penoncello made 18 of 35 shots, including five of nine three-pointers. He also converted on 20 of 22 free throws, had 17 rebounds (10 at the offensive end), four assists and four steals. . .Richardson scored 50 points as the Saints split two overtime games in Alaska. Richardson shot at a 69.0 percent clip, making 20 of 29 attempts (12 of 13 against Alaska Anchorage) and also had team-highs of 17 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Week of Mar. 10-17: McCade Olsen, Alaska Anchorage (F, 6-8, Sr., Riverton, UT – Eastern Wyoming) was selected the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA West Regional. In three games, Olsen scored 69 points and also had 14 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and five steals. He made 24 of 41 field goal attempts, four of seven three-pointers and all 17 of his free throw attempts in leading the Seawolves to their first regional title since 1988 when they reached the NCAA Division II national championship contest.

Men's Players-of-the-Week (2001-02 through 2006-07)