Men's Basketball | 2/18/2020 12:47:00 PM
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team finishes up their home-schedule this week with two crucial matchups as we near the GNAC Championships.
| Opponents |
Alaska Anchorage (16-11, 9-7) | Montana State Billings (10-14, 5-11) |
| Location |
Alaska Airlines Court at the Patty Center – Fairbanks, Alaska |
| Dates & Times |
Tuesday, Feb. 18
vs. Anchorage at 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 20
vs. Montana State Billings at 7:30 p.m.
Senior Night |
| Follow Along |
Live Stats | Live Video |
| Social Media |
Twitter |
Follow Along
All the action can be found on the
Alaska Nanooks Stretch Internet Portal. Live stats will be provided as well as live video with color commentary and play-by-play provided.
Last Time Out
The Nanooks are coming off of one of their toughest weeks of the season after falling to Central Washington University by three points on Thursday, Feb. 13 before falling to a hot-shooting Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks squad on Saturday, Feb. 15, 52-94. In game one, the Nanooks and Wildcats battle the entire first half, with CWU leading by five at the break. In the second half, the 'Nooks outscored the Wildcats by two, however, a potential game-tying three at the buzzer was missed, giving Central the victory and the two teams a season-split.
Game two saw the Nighthawks shoot 58.7% from the field and 52% from three, while making 13 three-pointers. NNU came in with a hot hand and defeated the 'Nooks 52-94.
GNAC Standings
Despite the two losses last week, the Nanooks still find themselves in the race for the GNAC Championships. Six teams will advance to the Championships in Seattle, Wash. on March 5-7 with the top two teams earning a first-round bye. Here are the current GNAC Standings:
| 1 |
Seattle Pacific *+ |
19-5, 15-1 |
| 2 |
Western Oregon |
16-6, 10-6 |
| 3 |
Western Washington |
15-9, 10-6 |
| 4 |
Northwest Nazarene |
13-8, 10-6 |
| 5 |
Alaska Anchorage |
16-11, 9-7 |
| 6 |
Alaska |
10-14, 9-7 |
| 7 |
Central Washington |
15-9, 8-8 |
| 8 |
Simon Fraser |
14-11, 7-9 |
| 9 |
Montana State Billings |
10-14, 5-11 |
| 10 |
Saint Martin's |
5-20, 3-13 |
| 11 |
Concordia |
3-21, 2-14 |
*indicates berth in GNAC Championships + indicates clinched regular season championship
#BeatUAA
The biggest rivalry in the Northern United States takes place on Tuesday, Feb. 18 when the Seawolves come to Fairbanks. Not only will this matchup be one for the ages in terms of rivalry games, but it will have big implications in the GNAC standings when the final playoff picture rounds out. The 'Nooks and UAA are currently tied for third in the standings, and if the playoffs started today, they would round out the field as the #5 and #6 seeds. Come out to the Patty Center at 7:00 p.m. on 2/18, you won't want to miss this one!
Scouting the Opponents
Alaska Anchorage Seawolves
The Seawolves are coming off of two overtime wins this past week. Both wins coming over teams in the playoff race. The first of the two came against Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, Feb. 13 when UAA escaped with a narrow 90-89 victory. After falling behind by 12 at the half, the Seawolves used a big second half to tie the game late and steal the win in OT.
In game two, Anchorage had a similar story-line, however this time they were the ones to lose the halftime lead. After going up 10 on Central at the half, the Wildcats pulled even, forcing an extra period. The Seawolves again escaped with an OT win, 70-68.
UAA boasts four players scoring in double-digits. Their leading-scorer is Oggie Pantovic. The big man from Kovin, Serbia has started only nine games for the Seawolves, while appearing in 26 of their 27. He has put up an average of 14.8 points per game while grabbing another team-high, 7.8 rebounds per game. Pantovic was named this week's GNAC Men's Player of the Week and will be the one to stop. On the defensive end, DeAndre Osuigwe is the Seawolves top man. He has picked up 34 steals to lead UAA. He is also their top distributor, assisting on 113 buckets for an average of 4.7 per game.
Montana State Billings Yellowjackets
The Yellowjackets find themselves in ninth place of the GNAC standings with only four games remaining in the regular season. The Jackets are coming off of a split at home in which they played Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's.
In game one against SPU, MSUB fell 62-83. They fell behind early by 12 at the half before the Falcons separated in the second half, grabbing the 21-point victory.
In game two, the Yellowjackets knocked off the Saints of Saint Martin's, 79-59. SMU hung close in the first half, trailing MSUB by only six, 41-35 but in the second half, Billings pulled away, putting up 38 second half points and outscoring the Saints by 14 to grab a 20-point win.
The leading-scorer for the Yellowjackets is Brendan Howard. The sophomore is averaging 21.3 points per game, good for second in the conference. He is also top-five in the GNAC in rebounds per game, grabbing 7.5 per game. He only trails Zharon Richmond on MSUB, as his teammate is grabbing an average of 7.8 per game. Tyler Green leads Billings in the steals category, grabbing a total of 23 on the season for an average of 1.0 per game.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks athletic page on Facebook.
