Tuesday, February 25, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. - Four teams have clinched berths in the GNAC Men's Basketball Championships, which begin next Wednesday at Marcus Pavilion, but two berths are still up for grabs.

Western Oregon has an opportunity to secure one of the two remaining spots this Wednesday (15-11, 8-8) when it hosts Simon Fraser (10-14, 3-13) in a ROOT SPORTS regionally-televised game.  Tipoff is at 7 p.m.

A win by the Wolves, who are currently tied for fifth-place with Montana State Billings (12-12, 8-8) and are one game ahead of seventh-place Central Washington (11-13, 7-9), will secure WOU no worse than a tie for sixth in the final conference standings.  WOU controls all the tiebreakers with MSUB and CWU.

Seattle Pacific (22-5, 13-3), Western Washington (18-6, 12-4), Alaska Fairbanks (16-9, 11-6) and Alaska Anchorage (17-11, 10-7) are all assured of berths in the tournament.  SPU is ranked 20th in this week's NABC national poll, while WWU is among "others receiving votes" and is 34th overall.

SPU has wrapped up a first-round bye.  Western Washington can secure the other first-round bye with one win in its final two games or a loss by UAF Thursday when it hosts UAA.

Four games including the UAA-UAF contest are on Thursday's schedule.  Seattle Pacific travels to Ellensburg to take on Central Washington. Montana State Billings plays at Northwest Nazarene (6-18, 4-12).  Western Washington, meanwhile, plays at Saint Martin's (8-16, 5-11).

The regular-season then concludes Saturday with four more games as MSU Billings plays at Central Washington, Seattle Pacific visits Northwest Nazarene, Saint Martin's hosts Simon Fraser and Western Washington is at Western Oregon.

GNAC Championships (March 5-8 at Marcus Pavilion, Saint Martin's University, Lacey, WA): WEDNESDAY: Noon -  #3 seed vs. #6 seed.  2:15 p.m. - #4 seed vs. #5 seed. THURSDAY: 5:15 p.m. -  #3/#6 winner vs. #2 seed.  7:30 p.m. - #4/#5 winner vs. #1 seed. SATURDAY: 5:15 p.m. - Championship game. 

McLaughlin, Simon Hold On To National Statistical Leads

Mark McLaughlin of Central Washington and Seattle Pacific's Patrick Simon held on to their national statistical leads in scoring and three-point percentage in this week's NCAA Division II report.

McLaughlin leads the nation in scoring averaging 27.3 points per game, a full two points better than runnerup Roderick Perkins of Erskine, who is averaging 25.3 points.

Simon is shooting 52.3 percent from the arc.  Teammate David Downs ranks third with a 49.0 percentage.

Also ranked in the Top 10 this week are MSU Billings point guard Kalob Hatcher, shooting guards Travis Thompson and Kyle Fossman of Alaska Anchorage, guard Riley Stockton of Seattle Pacific and forward Andrew Kelly of Alaska Fairbanks.

Hatcher ranks fifth in assists (7.5).  Thompson and Fossman are tied for fifth in three-pointers (3.71).  Stockton is second in assist/turnover ratio (3.86).  Kelly is ninth in field goal percentage (65.2).

In team categories, Alaska Anchorage is the national team leader in both fewest turnovers (8.3) and assist/turnover ratio (2.21).  The Seawolves also rank second in free throw percentage (79.8), third in three-pointers made (13.1) and ninth in assists (18.3).

Seattle Pacific ranks second in fewest turnovers (8.8). third in three-point percentage (42.9) and sixth in field goal percentage (50.8) and assist/turnover ratio (1.61).

Western Washington is fourth in blocks (5.8).  Western Oregon ranks ninth in steals (9.2) and Alaska Fairbanks ranks ninth in fewest fouls (15.3).

NCAA NATIONAL STATISTICS (Top 30; Through Feb. 23) 

Team:  Scoring – 11. Western Washington 87.7; 23. Alaska Anchorage 86.3. Scoring Defense – 26. Seattle Pacific 66.9; 28. Alaska Fairbanks 67.4.  Scoring Margin – 18. Seattle Pacific 12.0.  Field Goal PCT. – 6. Seattle Pacific 50.8; 22. Western Washington 49.8. Three-Pointers – 3. Alaska Anchorage 13.1; 13. Northwest Nazarene 10.0. Three-Point PCT. – 3. Seattle Pacific 42.9; 12. Alaska Anchorage 40.7. Three-Point PCT. Defense – 11. Western Washington 29.6.  Free Throw PCT. – 2. Alaska Anchorage 79.8; 14. Central Washington 76.9.  Assists – 9. Alaska Anchorage 18.3.  Assist/TO Ratio – 1. Alaska Anchorage 2.21; 6. Seattle Pacific 1.61; 19. MSU Billings 1.44.  Blocked Shots – 4. Western Washington 5.8.  Steals – 9. Western Oregon 9.2.  Fewest Turnovers – 1. Alaska Anchorage 8.3; 2. Seattle Pacific 8.8, Turnover Margin – 22. Alaska Fairbanks 3.8; 23. Alaska Anchorage 3.7. Fewest Fouls – 9. Alaska Fairbanks 15.3; 12. Seattle Pacific 15.7.  

Individuals: Scoring – 1. Mark McLaughlin, CWU, 27.3; 15. Travis Thompson, UAA, 21.7.  Field Goal PCT. – 9. Andrew Kelly, UAF, 65.2; 13. JB Pillard, CWU, 64.2; 23. Austin Bragg, WWU, 61.4. Three-Point FGs – 5. Travis Thompson, UAA, and Kyle Fossman, UAA, 3.71; 23. Jonathan Mesghna, MSUB, 3.04.  Three-Point PCT. – 1. Patrick Simon, SPU, 52.3; 3. David Downs, SPU, 49.0; 21. Kyle Fossman, UAA, 44.4; 27. Jonathan Mesghna, MSUB, 43.7.  Free Throw PCT. – 12. Travis Thompson, UAA, 90.2. Assists – 5. Kalob Hatcher, MSUB, 7.5; 18. Brian McGill, UAA, 6.0; 25. Sango Niang, SFU, 5.7. Blocked Shots – 27. Kevin Davis, CWU, 2.27.  Assist/TO Ratio – 2. Riley Stockton, SPU, 3.86; 16. Kyle Fossman, UAA, and Kalob Hatcher, 3.00.  Double-Doubles – 25. Austin Bragg, WWU, 10.

GNAC RED LION PLAYER OF THE WEEK:  Kyle Fossman, Alaska Anchorage (G, 6-0, Sr., Haines, AK) and Sango Niang, Simon Fraser (G, 6-0, Jr., Paris, France - Chaffey) .... Fossman scored 58 points including 40 in Saturday’s 96-77 win against Western Oregon, as the Seawolves clinched a GNAC post-season berth with a pair of victories.  Fossman made 19 of 27 field goals, including 17 of 25 three-pointers increasing his career three-point total to 248 (5th best in GNAC history).  He also set a GNAC single-game record making 12 three-pointers (in 16 attempts) against the Wolves, breaking the old conference mark of 10 shared by three players ... Niang had 63 points and 21 assists, producing a pair of double-doubles, as the Clan split two games.  He scored 36 points and had 11 assists in Thursday’s 112-99 win against Central Washington, scoring the second most points in GNAC history in a game in which the player also had 10 or more assists.  He followed that up with a 27-point, 10-assist performance in Saturday’s 98-90 loss to Northwest Nazarene.  Niang made 19 of 29 field goal attempts and was perfect (20-of-20) from the foul line.  His double-digit assist games were his first two of the season.

HONORABLE MENTION: Austin Bragg, Western Washington (C, 6-9, Sr., Longview, WA – Clark CC) had 55 points and 21 rebounds in home wins against Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington.  Bragg, who also led the Vikings with six steals and four blocks, had more assists (9) than missed shots (7) converting on 76.7 percent (23-of-30) ... Kevin Rima, Northwest Nazarene (F, 6-6, Jr., Fairbanks, AK – Hutchinson) netted 58 points and had 19 rebounds as the Crusaders earned a road split.  Rima shot 75.9 percent, cashing in on 22 of 29 shots.  He also blocked a pair of shots ... Mark McLaughlin, Central Washington (G, 6-6, Sr., Bothell, WA – Tacoma CC) had back-to-back 30-point games, scoring 34 against Simon Fraser and 32 against Western Washington.  McLaughlin was 26-of-27 from the foul line in the two contests.

MORE MENTIONABLES: Devon Alexander, Western Oregon (G, 6-1, So., Fontana, CA – Summit) led the Wolves to two wins leading his team in points (31) and rebounds (12).  He also had five steals and five assists ... David Downs, Seattle Pacific (G, 6-2, Sr., Kirkland, WA – Bellevue Christian) scored 31 of his 33 points in the second half and overtime in a 72-70 loss to MSUB.  Downs also had eight rebounds ... Evan Coulter, Saint Martin’s (G, 5-10, Sr., Mount Vernon, WA – Whatcom CC) led the Saints with 31 points, connecting on 13-of-23 shots.  He also had 11 rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

FROM THE RECORD BOOK: Fossman became the 19th player in GNAC history to score 40 or more points.  CWU’s Mark McLaughlin, who has a GNAC record three 40-point games this season, needs one more 30-point game to match the GNAC career record of 14 by Parrish West of  Alaska Fairbanks (2010-11).  McLaughlin had four last year and has nine this season.  Thirteen of West’s 14 came in his senior season ... Patrick Simon of Seattle Pacific continues to rank No. 1 in GNAC history in three-point percentage (48.7) and No. 1 this winter in Division II with a 52.3 percentage ... Kalob Hatcher of Montana State Billings ranks third in GNAC history in career assists per game averaging 5.96.

TEAM NOTES

Alaska Anchorage: The Seawolves made 27 of 41 three-pointers in Saturday’s 19-point win against Western Oregon, matching their own GNAC record for most three-pointers made against Northland International earlier this season.  In addition to Fossman (17-of-25), Travis Thompson made 10-of-17 in netting 48 points and Colton Lauwers was 5-of-10.

Alaska Fairbanks:  Ronnie Baker had 30 points and seven assists as the Nanooks split two games, losing by one to Western Oregon before beating Saint Martin’s by 20 ... The Nanooks have two active 900-point career scorers.  Sergej Pucar has 927 and Stefan Tica has scored 908.  They rank 70th and 72nd, respectively, in GNAC career scoring.

Central Washington: Mark McLaughlin, JB Pillard and Jordan Russell combined for 104 points in the Wildcats’ two road losses.  McLaughlin had 66, Pillard had 35 on 15-of-22 shooting, and Russell netted 33 points.  CWU made 43-of-49 free throws (87.8 percent), but was just 9-of-35 from the three-point line (25.7 percent).

Montana State Billings: Devon Wallace led the Yellowjackets with 17 points and Jonathan Mesghna had 15 as MSUB ended Seattle Pacific’s 11-game win streak with a 72-70 overtime victory. Marc Matthews, who had 13 points, got the game-winner on a rebound basket at the buzzer.  The two teams have split two overtime contests; SPU won 92-87 in two overtimes earlier this season in Billings.

Northwest Nazarene:  Kevin Rima had 31 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday’s NNU win at Simon Fraser to finish the weekend with impressive numbers (48 points, 19 rebounds).  Mario Donaldson netted 41 points and also had a team-high eight assists.  The Crusaders shot 55.6 percent from the floor (60-of-108) and 81.8 percent from the foul line (36-of-44).

Saint Martin’s: Evan Coulter paced the Saints with 31 points and also had 11 rebounds, seven assists and four steals in a pair of double-digit losses in Alaska.  Ryan Rogers and Riley Carel had 21 points each.  SMU outrebounded by Alaskans 70-58, but shot just 11-of-40 from the arc and had 12 more turnovers (27-15).

Seattle Pacific: David Downs had nearly half of SPU’s points (33 of 70) and 62 percent of its second-half points (31 of 50) in Saturday’s overtime game.  He was the only Falcon in double figures as SPU overcame a 32-20 halftime deficit before losing in the extra period.  The Falcons had 10 fewer turnovers (16-6) than the ‘Jackets, but shot just 34.4 percent (22-of-64),

Simon Fraser: Sango Niang (See GNAC Player of the Week notes) had two of the highest point totals in GNAC history among players with double-digit assists in home games against Central Washington (36) and Northwest Nazarene (27).  His CWU total ranks second and his NNU total ranks seventh in that category.  David Gebru had 30 points and Taylor Dunn had  28 points and 13 rebounds.

Western Oregon: In addition to Devon Alexander (31 points, 12 rebounds), the Wolves were led by Rodney Webster (28 points, 7 steals), Andy Avgi (26 points) and Jordan Wiley (22 points, 5-of-11 three-pointers) in splitting two games in Alaska.

Western Washington:  Richard Woodworth, who beat Central Washington Saturday with a shot from beyond half court before a regionally televised audience on ROOT SPORTS, has played in 119 games, five shy of the GNAC record of 124 set last year by WWU’s Chris Mitchell.  Woodworth scored 10 points in the final 60 seconds after scoring just 19 in his previous 66 minutes.  He was just 8-of-24 from the floor, but did lead the Vikings with 12 assists.