Tuesday, November 28, 2017

PORTLAND, Ore. – Two of the best players in their respective GNAC sports and a third-year coach on the rise appeared on GNAC Insider, airing Tuesday at 7 p.m., Pacific, hosted by Rob Lowery. This week’s guests were Montana State Billings women’s basketball senior forward Alisha Breen, Northwest Nazarene middle blocker Madi Farrell and Saint Martin’s men’s head basketball coach Alex Pribble.

Breen, a two-time GNAC Preseason Player of the Year, has helped the Yellowjackets to a 5-0 start. Poised to lead MSUB to another GNAC Championships run last season, Breen missed the entire year after sustaining a knee injury after just two exhibition games. This year, the senior is second in the GNAC with 18.4 points per game, tied for second with nine rebounds per game, sixth with 4.2 assists per game and is top-three in field goal percentage shooting .933 from the charity stripe. The Yellowjackets open their conference slate with a pair of home games this week against Western Washington and Simon Fraser.

Named to the D2CCA Volleyball All-West Region Team for the second consecutive season, Farrell has produced excellent offensive numbers for a Nighthawks team heading into the Division II West Regional as the No. 3 seed. Farrell, a four-time All-GNAC selection, enters the playoffs leading the GNAC and ranked fourth in Division II with a .417 hitting percentage and is seventh in Division II with 1.36 blocks per set. Farrell posted double-digit kills in 25 matches, including three performances with 20 or more kills. Northwest Nazarene will take on GNAC rival Central Washington in the quarterfinals of the West Regional this Thursday.

Fresh off an upset win over No. 7 Cal Baptist last weekend, Pribble leads a Saints team that is currently riding a four-game win streak heading into GNAC action. In just his second season at the helm last year, Pribble led the Saints to their first-ever GNAC Championships victory with a win over Concordia. During his first season as a Saint, he led his team to its first winning season since 2009-10. Saint Martin’s ranks fourth in the GNAC scoring 83.7 points per game. The three-ball has been a major factor in the Saints’ success this season, as they are second in the GNAC and 21st in Division II shooting .429 from beyond the arc. Saint Martin’s is on the road for the first week of conference action against Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene.