Tuesday, February 11, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. - Seattle Pacific and Western Washington both start the week with long win streaks.  But, by Saturday night one of those streaks will be kaput.

The Falcons (20-4), who moved up four slots and are ranked 15th in this week's NABC national poll, have won nine straight.  They host the No. 24-ranked Vikings (16-4, 10-2), who have won six in a row, Saturday night at Brougham Pavilion.

Prior to Saturday's showdown, Western Washington will travel to Billings, Mont., to take on Montana State Billings (9-12, 5-8), which is in a tight four-way race for the GNAC's final two playoff berths with Western Oregon (13-10, 6-7), Alaska Anchorage (13-11, 6-7) and Saint Martin's (8-13, 5-8).

Two of those teams - Western Oregon and Saint Martin's - play their travel partner game Saturday night at Lacey.

Seattle Pacific, meanwhile, will host Simon Fraser Thursday night and will be going for its 15th consecutive win at Brougham Pavilion.  Their current 14-game streak at home is the fourth longest in GNAC history for conference games.

Elesewhere Thursday, Alaska Anchorage will play at fourth-place Central Washington (11-9, 7-5) and third-place Alaska Fairbanks (13-8, 8-5) will visit Northwest Nazarene (5-15, 3-9).

Saturday's WWU-SPU game will not only impact the NABC national rankings, but it will also have a major impact on the first official NCAA West Regional poll, which will be released four days later. 

Whomever wins will also likely end the week in first place in the GNAC, dependent of course what happens on Thursday. 

A SPU win would also give the Falcons, by virtue of a season series sweep with WWU, the tiebreaker advantage in the GNAC post-season seedings, though at this point both teams are likely to earn first-round byes in the six-team onference tournament which begins Mar. 5 at Lacey.

SPU and WWU are among five West Region teams in this week's NABC national poll. 

Cal Baptist (20-1) of the PacWest Conference is ranked eighth.  Cal State San Bernardino is ranked 17th and Cal Poly Pomona is ranked 25th.

Metro State (20-1) is ranked first.  Western Washington handed Metro its only loss in December at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

CWU's McLaughlin Stays on Top In National Scoring Race

Mark McLaughlin of Central Washington remained in first place in this week's NCAA Division II national report in scoring.  McLaughlin is averaging 27.5 points per game. Roderick Perkins of Erskine ranks second with a 24.9 average.

Patrick Simon of Seattle Pacific ranks second in three-point percentage, shooting 52.2 percent.  His teammate David Downs ranks eighth with a 48.8 three-point percentage.  Simon also ranks second in GNAC history in career three-point percentage, shooting 48.5 percent.

Travis Thompson of Alaska Anchorage ranks in the Top 10 in two categories.  He is seventh in three-pointers made (3.58) and 10th in free throw percentage (90.1).

Riley Stockton of Seattle Pacific ranks fifth in assist/turnover ratio with a 3.50 average.

Andrew Kelly of Alaska Fairbanks and Kalob Hatcher of Montana State Billings have No. 6 national rankings. Kelly is sixth in field goal shooting (67.5); Hatcher is sixth in assists (7.2).

In team categories, Alaska Anchorage is the national leader in fewest turnovers (8.4) and assist/turnover ratio (2.11).  The Seawolves also rank second in free throw percentage (80.0) and third in three-pointers (12.2).

Seattle Pacific, which clinched a school-record fifth consecutive 20-win season with two road victories in Alaska last weekend, is second in fewest turnovers (9.0), fourth in three-point percentage (43.0), eighth in assist/turnover ratio (1.61) and ninth in field goal percentage (91.0).

Western Washington is ranked in the Top 10 in two defensive categories - fourth in blocked shots (5.9) and seventh in three-point percentage (28.9).  Western Oregon is eighth in steals (9.5) and Alaska Fairbanks ranks eighth in fewest fouls (15.1).

NCAA NATIONAL STATISTICS (Top 30; Through Feb. 9):  Team:  Scoring –17. Western Washington 86.9; 23. Alaska Anchorage 85.8. Scoring Defense – 17. Seattle Pacific 65.3; 21. Alaska Fairbanks 66.0.  Scoring Margin – 16. Seattle Pacific 13.0.  Field Goal PCT. – 9. Seattle Pacific 51.0; 26. Western Washington 49.4. Three-Pointers – 3. Alaska Anchorage 12.2; 11. Northwest Nazarene 10.1. Three-Point PCT. – 4. Seattle Pacific 43.0. Three-Point PCT. Defense – 7. Western Washington 28.9.  Free Throw PCT. – 2. Alaska Anchorage 80.0; 22. Central Washington 76.0.  Rebounds – 25. Western Washington 6.6. Assists – 17. Alaska Anchorage 17.8.  Assist/TO Ratio – 1. Alaska Anchorage 2.11; 8. Seattle Pacific 1.61; 18. MSU Billings 1.43.  Steals – 8. Western Oregon 9.5.  Blocked Shots – 4. Western Washington 5.9.  Fewest Turnovers – 1. Alaska Anchorage 8.4; 2. Seattle Pacific 9.0; 26. Alaska Fairbanks 10.7; 30. MSU Billings 10.9. Turnover Margin – 13. Alaska Fairbanks 4.6; 21. Alaska Anchorage 3.9. Fewest Fouls – 8. Alaska Fairbanks 15.1; 12. Seattle Pacific 15.8; 22. Northwest Nazarene 16.4.   Individuals: Scoring – 1. Mark McLaughlin, CWU, 27.5; 18. Travis Thompson, UAA, 21.3.  Field Goal PCT. – 6. Andrew Kelly, UAF, 67.5; 16. JB Pillard, CWU, 63.4. Three-Point FGs – 7. Travis Thompson, UAA, 3.58; 11. Kyle Fossman, UAA, 3.21.  Three-Point PCT. – 2. Patrick Simon, SPU, 52.2; 8. David Downs, SPU, 48.8.  Free Throw PCT. – 10. Travis Thompson, UAA, 90.1; 29. Evan Coulter, SMU, 88.0. Assists – 6. Kalob Hatcher, MSUB, 7.2; 19. Brian McGill, UAA, 6.0. Blocked Shots – 25. Kevin Davis, CWU, 2.33.  Assist/TO Ratio – 5. Riley Stockton, SPU, 3.50; 22. Kalob Hatcher, MSUB, 2.90; 27. Kyle Fossman, UAA, 2.77.  Double-Doubles – 21. Austin Bragg, WWU, 9.

GNAC RED LION PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Austin Hudson, MSU Billings (F, 6-7, Jr., Salt Lake City, UT – Central Wyoming) scored 47 points and had 32 rebounds as the Yellowjackets split two games, earning their first win at Anchorage since Jan. 29, 1998 ... Hudson scored 24 points and had 22 rebounds, including a GNAC record 13 offensive caroms, in a 88-74 loss Thursday at Alaska Fairbanks.  He then led MSUB to a 75-62 win against Alaska Anchorage scoring 23 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.  In the two games, Hudson made 20 of 32 shots (62.5 percent) and also had four assists, four steals and two blocks.  Half of his 32 rebounds came off the offensive glass.   His 22 rebounds at UAF equal the second highest individual single-game total in GNAC history.   

HONORABLE MENTION: Mitch Penner, Seattle Pacific (F, 6-5, So., Seattle, WA – Kennedy) came off the bench to lead the Falcons with 38 points as SPU ran its win streak to nine games with a pair of victories in Alaska.  Penner missed just six shots, two from inside the arc (9-of-11), two from beyond the arc (4-of-6) and two from the foul line (8-of-10),  He also had nine rebounds and a pair of assists ...  Richard Woodworth, Western Washington (G, 6-3, Sr., Bellevue, WA – Newport) scored 33 points and also had four rebounds, four assists and five steals in a one-point road win at Simon Fraser.  Woodworth was perfect from the foul line (13-of-13) and also made 4-of-8 three-pointers ... Mario Donaldson, Northwest Nazarene (G, Sr., Rockton, IL) scored 22 points and had seven rebounds and four steals in a 80-73 overtime loss at Saint Martin’s.  He added 12 more points and seven more rebounds in Monday’s contest at Western Oregon.

MORE MENTIONABLES: Evan Coulter, Saint Martin’s (G, 5-10, Sr., Mount Vernon, WA – Whatcom CC) scored 48 points and had nine rebounds, five assists and four steals as the Saints split two nail-bitters, winning in overtime against Northwest Nazarene (80-73) before dropping a four-point decision to Central Washington (77-73) ... Andy Avgi, Western Oregon (F, 6-6, So., Woodburn, OR) led the Wolves to a 12-point win over Central Washington scoring 18 points and also contributing six rebounds and three steals.  Avgi also had a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds), his second of the year, in Monday’s win over NNU.

FROM THE RECORD BOOK: Patrick Simon of Seattle Pacific, who ranks second in Division II in three-point percentage this winter (52.2), also ranks second in GNAC history in career three-point percentage shooting 48.5 percent (126-260).  Joel Ryman of Northwest Nazarene is the career leader shooting 48.6 (136-of-280) ... MSUB’s Hudson eclipsed the old GNAC record for offensive rebounds of 12 set by Stanley Ratcliff of Western Oregon vs. Northwest Nazarene on Jan. 7, 2006.  Hudson's 22 total rebounds equaled the second most in GNAC history.  Blake Poole of Saint Martin's had 24 versus  Western Oregon on Jan. 11, 2011 (in a ROOT Sports televised contest) and 22 against the Wolves on Jan. 31, 2009.

TEAM NOTES

Alaska Anchorage: Kyle Fossman scored 34 points and also had nine assists in a pair of home losses.  Brian McGill added 25 points and Travis Thompson had 22 points and 11 rebounds.  UAA shot just 29.2 percent from the arc, making 19 of 65.

Alaska Fairbanks:  Stefan Tica shot 70 percent from the floor (14-of-20) including 66.7 percent (6-of-9) on treys, as the Nanooks split two home games.  Tica had 38 points.  Andrew Kelly added 31 points on 13-of-19 shooting and also led UAF with 12 rebounds and six assists.  Saturday’s home loss to Seattle Pacific snapped UAF’s 11-game home win streak.

Central Washington: Mark McLaughlin scored 41 points and had nine rebounds as the Wildcats split two road games.  McLaughlin, who had made 25 of 45 three-pointers in his previous eight games, took just three shots from the arc, making one.  CWU also got 31 points from Jordan Russell and 25 points and 24 rebounds from JB Pillard.

Montana State Billings: In addition to winning at Anchorage for the first time since 1998 (see Player of the Week notes), MSUB completed its first season series sweep of Alaska Anchorage since 1986-87 with Saturday’s 75-62 win.  In addition to Hudson (47 points, 32 rebounds), MSUB was led on the trip by Devon Wallace (26 points, 10 assists), Jonathan Mesghna (25 points, 12 rebounds), Marc Matthews (23 points) and Kalob Hatcher (15 points, 18 assists, 10 rebounds).

Northwest Nazarene: Mario Donaldson had 34 points, 14 rebounds and six steals in the Crusaders’ extended trip (Thursday through Monday due so snow in the Monmouth area).  Grayson Moore chipped in with 26 points and Kevin Rima had 19 points and 24 rebounds.

Saint Martin’s: Evan Coulter and Ryan Rogers combined for 93 points in the Saints’ two contests.  Coulter had 48 on  15-of-27 shooting (2-of-6 three-pointers) from the floor and 16-of-18 from the foul line.  Rogers pumped in 45 points and also had a team-high 17 rebounds.  He made 5-of-9 three-pointers, but was just 8-of-25 inside the arc.

Seattle Pacific: The Falcons earned a sweep in Alaska for the second year in a row as four players averaged in double figures, including Mitch Penner (19.0), Patrick Simon (16.5), David Downs (13.0) and Matt Borton (12.5) ... Borton led SPU in rebounds (17) and Downs led in assists (11).  The Falcons, who secured their fifth straight 20-win season for the first time in school history, outshot its two opponents 49.1 percent (52-of-106) to 39.5 (47-of-119) and outrebounded them 74-53.

Simon Fraser: The Clan shot 50 percent from the floor (30-of-60) in a one-point home loss to Western Washington (84-83).  Sango Niang led SFU with 20 points, eight assists and four steals and also ranked second on the team to Ibrahim Appiah (9 rebounds) with seven caroms.

Western Oregon: Andy Avgi had 30 points and Rodney Webster had 21 leading the Wolves to two home wins.   The Wolves shot just 37.9 percent from the floor (47-of-124) including 26.8 percent (11-of-41) on treys,  but held their opponents to percentages of 36.4 percent (40-of-110) and 31.1 (14-of-45) and also forced nearly twice as many turnovers (33-17).

Western Washington:  The Vikings extended their win streak to six games as Richard Woodworth, who has made his last 16 foul shots, had 33 points and five steals in an 84-83 win.  The Vikings also were led by Austin Bragg with 16 points and Jeffrey Parker with 14 in the victory.

For more GNAC Basketball news, check out the GNAC Weekly Report.