Tuesday, February 18, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. - The nation's Top 2 three-point shooters in Division II play for Seattle Pacific.

The Falcons, who are one win away from clinching the No. 1 seed in the GNAC Men's Basketball Championships which begin March 5 at Lacey, feature Patrick Simons and David Downs. 

Simon ranks first (53.7) and Downs (50.0) ranks second in three-point percentage in this week's NCAA Division II national statistical report. As a team, SPU ranks third converting on 43.7 percent from the arc.

SPU, which moved up two slots and is ranked 13th in this week's NABC national poll, can wrap up the top seed and clinch no worse than a tie for the GNAC regular-season title (its fifth in 13 years) with a win Saturday against Montana State Billings at Brougham Pavilion.   The Falcons have won 16 straight conference home games at Brougham.  That is the fourth longest streak in GNAC history.

The SPU-MSUB game is one of nine on this week's schedule and almost all of them will have an impact on who qualifies or the seedings for next month's tournament at Saint Martin's.

On Thursday, Western Washington (16-6, 10-4) hosts Northwest Nazarene (5-17, 3-11).  A Viking win would keep WWU ahead of Alaska Fairbanks in the battle for a first-round bye and also mathematically eliminate the Crusaders from post-season consideration.

Alaska Fairbanks, which trails WWU by just one-half game for the No. 2 seed, hosts Western Oregon (14-10, 7-7), which is currently tied with Central Washington (11-11, 7-7) for fifth.  Six teams qualify for the tournament and MSUB is lurking just one-half game back of the Wolves and Wildcats for the final two spots.

CWU travels to Burnaby to take on Simon Fraser (9-13, 2-12) before taking on arch-rival Western Washington Saturday in a ROOT Sports contest.  Meanwhile, Saint Martin's (8-14, 5-9) plays at fourth-place Alaska Anchorage (15-11, 8-7) to complete Thursday's schedule.

In addition to the SPU/MSUB and the CWU/WWU games, the rest of Saturday's schedule will match Western Oregon and Alaska Anchorage, Saint Martin's and Alaska Fairbanks and Simon Fraser and Northwest Nazarene.

Simon and Downs, this week's GNAC Red Lion Player of the Week, are among seven players ranked in the Top 10 in this week's NCAA Division II national statistical report.  CWU's Mark McLaughlin leads Division II in scoring averaging 26.8.  Garrett Kerr of the University of Sciences in Philadelphia ranks second with a 24.7 average.

SPU's Riley Stockton ranks fourth in assist/turnover ratio (3.71) and three players rank sixth - Andrew Kelly of Alaska Fairbanks in field goal percentage (66.8), MSUB's Kalob Hatcher in assists (7.6) and UAA's Travis Thompson in three-pointers made (3.62).  Thompson also ranks 10th in free throw percentage (89.9).  His teammate - Kyle Fossman - joins him in the Top 10 in three-pointers ranking ninth (3.35).

In team categories, Alaska Anchorage ranks first in assist/turnover ratio (2.15) and fewest turnovers (8.2).  The Seawolves also rank third in three-pointers made (12.6) and free throw percentage (79.5).

Seattle Pacific, in addition to three-point percentage, ranks second in fewest turnovers (8.9), sixth in field goal percentage (51.6) and seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.63).

Western Washington ranks fourth in blocked shots (5.8).  Northwest Nazarene ranks ninth in three-pointers (10.2) and Alaska Fairbanks is 10th in fouls (15.7).

NCAA NATIONAL STATISTICS (Top 30; Through Feb. 16):  Team:  Scoring –11. Western Washington 87.5; 24. Alaska Anchorage 85.8. Scoring Defense – 25. Seattle Pacific 66.7.  Scoring Margin – 17. Seattle Pacific 12.5.  Field Goal PCT. – 6. Seattle Pacific 51.6; 19. Western Washington 49.8. Three-Pointers – 3. Alaska Anchorage 12.6; 9. Northwest Nazarene 10.2. Three-Point PCT. – 3. Seattle Pacific 43.7; 30. Alaska Anchorage 39.5. Three-Point PCT. Defense – 11. Western Washington 29.7.  Free Throw PCT. – 3. Alaska Anchorage 79.5; 24. Central Washington 75.8.  Rebound Margin – 30. Seattle Pacific 6.1.  Assists – 15. Alaska Anchorage 17.6.  Assist/TO Ratio – 1. Alaska Anchorage 2.15; 7. Seattle Pacific 1.63; 16. MSU Billings 1.48.  Steals – 13. Western Oregon 9.2.  Blocked Shots – 4. Western Washington 5.8.  Fewest Turnovers – 1. Alaska Anchorage 8.2; 2. Seattle Pacific 8.9; 28. Alaska Fairbanks 10.6. Turnover Margin – 19. Alaska Fairbanks 4.0; 20. Alaska Anchorage 4.0. Fewest Fouls – 10. Alaska Fairbanks 15.7; 15. Seattle Pacific 16.0.   Individuals: Scoring – 1. Mark McLaughlin, CWU, 26.8; 17. Travis Thompson, UAA, 21.5.  Field Goal PCT. – 6. Andrew Kelly, UAF, 66.8; 13. JB Pillard, CWU, 63.8. Three-Point FGs – 6. Travis Thompson, UAA, 3.62; 9. Kyle Fossman, UAA, 3.35; 23. Jonathan Mesghna, MSUB, 3.0.  Three-Point PCT. – 1. Patrick Simon, SPU, 53.7; 2. David Downs, SPU, 50.0.  Free Throw PCT. – 10. Travis Thompson, UAA, 89.9; 27. Evan Coulter, SMU, 87.4. Assists – 6. Kalob Hatcher, MSUB, 7.6; 20. Brian McGill, UAA, 6.0. Blocked Shots – 25. Kevin Davis, CWU, 2.30.  Assist/TO Ratio – 4. Riley Stockton, SPU, 3.71; 12. Kalob Hatcher, MSUB, 3.07; 23. Kyle Fossman, UAA, 2.90.  Double-Doubles – 26. Austin Bragg, WWU, 9.

GNAC RED LION PLAYER OF THE WEEK:  David Downs, Seattle Pacific (G, 6-2, Sr., Kirkland, WA – Bellevue Christian) scored 64 points, including 36 in a 91-88 win over No. 24 Western Washington and 28 in a 89-79 victory over Simon Fraser, as the Falcons extended their win streak to 11 games.  Downs, who had 10 assists and just one turnover, made 19 of 34 field goal attempts, including 10 of 17 three-pointers.  He also made 16 of 19 foul shots.  Seven of his assists came against the Vikings as he moved into third place on SPU’s all-time playmaker list with 538.

HONORABLE MENTION: Stefan Tica, Alaska Fairbanks (F, 6-7, Sr., Belgrade, Serbia - Panola) made seven of 13 three-pointers and scored 36 points as the Nanooks evened their road record at 5-5 with a triple overtime win at Northwest Nazarene before rallying from a 26-point first half deficit to beat Central Washington ... Travis Thompson, Alaska Anchorage (G, 6-1, Jr., Anchorage, AK – Dimond) scored 50 points and also had 10 assists to lead the Seawolves to road wins at CWU and NNU.  Thompson shot 58.1 percent from the floor (18-of-31 including 8-of-19 from the arc) ... Richard Woodworth, Western Washington (G, 6-3, 195, Sr., Bellevue, WA - Newport)  scored 51 points and had 10 assists in the Vikings’ two road losses at Billings and Seattle.   Woodworth was 17-of-30 from the field.

MORE MENTIONABLES: Andy Avgi, Western Oregon (F, 6-6, So., Woodburn, OR) had a pair of double-doubles in wins over Northwest Nazarene (12 points, 11 rebounds) and Saint Martin’s (21 points,11 rebounds). Avgi missed just four shots (9-of-13) in the two contests as the Wolves moved into a tie for fifth in the GNAC with Central Washington ...  Jonathan Mesghna, MSU Billings (F,  6-6, Sr., Frankfurt, Germany – U. of Maine) scored 47 points on 17 of 22 shooting, including 10 of 13 from the arc in the Yellowjackets’ home wins over No. 22 Western Washington and Simon Fraser ...Mario Donaldson, Northwest Nazarene (G, 6-3, Sr., Rockton, IL) had 47 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in three contests including Monday’s makeup against Western Oregon.

FROM THE RECORD BOOK: Alaska Anchorage (19) and Central Washington (14) combined for 33 three-pointers in UAA’s 96-89 win at Ellensburg.  That is the third highest total in GNAC history and the most in a conference contest ... The Alaska Fairbanks – Northwest Nazarene triple overtime time was the fourth in GNAC history.  There has also been two four-overtime games.

TEAM NOTES

Alaska Anchorage: Travis Thompson had 31 points – his fifth 30-point game of the season – and a key steal in the final minute in UAA’s win Thursday at Ellensburg.  His steal came with less than 30 seconds to go and the Seawolves leading by just three points.  In addition to Thompson’s 50 points, UAA got 32 points each from Kyle Fossman (10-of-22 from the arc) and Teancum Stafford (7-of-11 from the arc).

Alaska Fairbanks:  Andrew Kelly had 34 points and 24 rebounds in the Nanooks two road wins.  UAF, which had one of greatest comebacks in GNAC history rallying from a 26-point deficit to beat CWU, also got 39 points and a team-high five steals from Ronnie Baker.  UAF shot 51.1 percent (24-of-47)  from the arc in their two victories.

Central Washington: Sophomore guard Jordan Russell came off the bench to score 41 points in CWU’s two games.  Russell made 15-of-26 shots, including 8-of-13 treys.  Mark McLaughlin had 39 points and 11 of CWU’s 28 assists.  JB Pillard had 22 points (9-of-13  field goals) and a team-high 16 rebounds.

Montana State Billings: Three MSUB players averaged 20 points a game as the Yellowjackets stayed in the playoff race with wins over WWU and Simon Fraser.  Austin Hudson and Jonathan Mesghna each had 47 points and Kalob Hatcher had 43 points and 24 of MSUB’s 35 assists. Led by Hudson with 19 rebounds, the Yellowjackets’ outrebounded their opponents 71-54.

Northwest Nazarene: Mario Donaldson (47 points), Kevin Rima (45) and Derek Isaak (41) accounted for 60 percent of NNU’s scoring (133 of 222) in three contests.  The Crusaders were also led by Grayson Moore with 34 points and 27 rebounds.

Saint Martin’s: Evan Coulter and Isaac Bianchini led the Saints with 14 and 12 points each as the Saints lost at home to Western Oregon.  Coulter also led the SMU with eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Seattle Pacific: Patrick Simon (53.7) and David Downs (50.0) rank 1-2 in NCAA Division II in three-point shooting.  Simon, who is also the GNAC career percentage leader (49.3), made 6-of-8 and Downs converted on 10-of-17 as the Falcons extended their win streak to 11 games and their conference game home win streak to 16, the fourth longest in GNAC history.

Simon Fraser: Sango Niang had 53 points and nine assists in road losses at Seattle Pacific and MSU Billings.  Niang made 20 of 31 shots.  David Gebru led SFU with 12 rebounds and also had 29 points.

Western Oregon: The Wolves outscored the Saints 29-4 from the foul line in their eight-point road win at Saint Martin’s as Andy Avgi, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds, made 9-of-10.  In two contests, WOU was outscored 60-24 from the arc but had a 46-14 advantage from the foul line. 

Western Washington:  In addition to Woodworth’s 51 points (See Player of the Week Honorable Mention lists), the Vikings also got 37 points and 11 rebounds from Jeffrey Parker and 32 points and nine rebounds from Austin Bragg.  Bragg made 12-of-18 shots, including 2-of-3 from the arc.  The Vikings are among "others receiving votes" and are 34th overall in this week's NABC poll.