University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — "Rivalry Week" comes early this season for the Alaska men's basketball team. The Nanooks travel south to face in-state rival Alaska Anchorage Saturday in Anchorage in both teams' Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener.
 
The Nanooks (4-3) wrapped up their preseason tournament schedule last weekend at the Ayres Inn & Suites CBU Classic in Riverside, Calif., with two losses. The week before, they took the crown at their own GCI Alaska Invitational. That tournament win followed a third-place finish at the season-opening AT&T Jamboree in Anchorage – so the Nanooks have experienced all levels of success during their preseason slate.
 
Four Nanooks enter GNAC play averaging double-digits in scoring. Senior guard Ronnie Baker (Vallejo, Calif./Communications) leads the way with 17.0 points per game – tied for fifth-best in the GNAC. Baker is shooting 50.6 percent from the floor this season and a team-best 53.8 percent from beyond the 3-point line. Senior forward Andrew Kelly (Gilbert, Ariz./Justice) has averaged 12.3 ppg and a team-best 7.0 rebounds per game.
 
Senior center Sergej Pucar (Belgrade, Serbia/Business Administration) (11.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and junior guard Joe Slocum (San Francisco/Communications) (11.4 ppg, 4.4 assists per game) have also been among the team's offensive leaders so far this season. Slocum has been active on the defensive end as well, leading the GNAC in steals with 2.4 takeaways per game.
 
The Nanooks have the top scoring defense in the conference through six preseason games, limiting opponents to 64.9 points a contest. Alaska has also been one of the top free-throw shooting teams in the GNAC, making 78 percent of their attempts from the charity stripe – second only to Alaska Anchorage (78.5 percent).
 
Game #8: Alaska at Alaska Anchorage – Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. (AKST)
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The Seawolves (5-4) hosted the Great Alaska Shootout last week and went 0-3 against three NCAA Division I opponents. Alaska Anchorage is the best free-throw shooting team in the GNAC at 78.5 percent. On the opposite end, it is the second-worst field-goal defensive team, allowing opponents to shoot 48.2 percent.
 
Travis Thompson leads the Seawolves and is second in the GNAC with 21.1 points per game. Three other Seawolves rank among the GNAC top 10 in scoring – Kyle Fossman (7th, 16.8 ppg), Brian McGill (9th, 15.9 ppg) and Teancum Stafford (10th, 15.1 ppg). Thompson has helped UAA be the GNAC's best free-throw shooting team with a conference-best 91.8 percent rate from behind the free-throw line. Stafford's 7.0 rebounds per game are tied with Kelly's 7.0 for sixth-best in the conference.