Tuesday, November 25, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. -  Alaska Anchorage will play University of the Pacific in the opening game of the 37th annual Great Alaska Shootout Wednesday at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The game, which tips off at 7:30 p.m. Alaska time (8:30 p.m. Paciific) will be televised on CBS Sports Network. 

It is one of seven games in the tournament that will be televised including all four first round games, both semifinals (Friday at 5:30 and 8 p.m.) and Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. championship contest   

Pacific is making its second appearance in the Shootout.  It lost a first round game to UAA in the second Shootout in 1979.

That is one of 35 wins (against 73 losses) for UAA in its annual tournament against Division I teams.

Pacific brings a 2-2 record into Wednesday’s game defeating Western Illinois and NAIA Pacific Union and losing to UC Irvine and Washington.

Depending of the results of Wednesday’s first two Shootout games, UAA (2-4) will either play Missouri State or Colorado State (at  noon or 5:30 p.m.) on Friday.

Alaska, Simon Fraser, Western Oregon In California

Alaska (1-2) and Simon Fraser (3-2) travel to Belmont, Calif. this weekend to compete in the Notre Dame de Namur Invitational.

The two GNAC teams will face Holy Names and the host school.

Those four games will be among eight games matching GNAC teams against NCAA Division II West Region opponents this week.

Western Oregon plays at Dixie State tonight (Tuesday), Cal State Monterey Bay Friday and Academy of Arts Saturday and Seattle Pacific is at Hawaii Hilo Wednesday.

The Falcons are 2-1 on their road trip, which originally included five games.  However, because of travel issues, SPU’s Tuesday’s game with Washburn, Kans., was cancelled.

Northwest Nazarene, Montana State  Billings and Saint Martin’s also have games this week with NCAA Division II opponents.

NNU plays Texas A&M-Kingsville and Tarleton State Friday and Saturday in the Tarleton State Invitational. 

MSUB hosts Black Hills State Saturday.  The game will count as  a regional contest for the Yellowjackets under the NCAA’s “contiguous state” rule.

Saint Martin’s also plays at Concordia, Ore., Saturday.  That game will not count as a “Division II” game for the Saints.

Five other non-Division II games are on this week’s schedule as Western Washington hosts Multnomah and Douglas Tuesday and Saturday; MSUB hosts Great Falls Tuesday; Saint Martin’s hosts George Fox Wednesday and Central Washington entertains Walla Walla Saturday.

Simon Fraser National Leader in 4 Categories

Simon Fraser is the early season national team leader in scoring (129.6), three-pointers (15.6), steals (21.0) and turnover margin (16.4).

In individual categories, Anye Turner of Western Washington ranks fourth in blocked shots, averaging four per game.  SFU’s Sango Niang ranks sixth in assists (7.6),

GNAC Men’s Basketball Players of the Week

Nov. 17-23: Ruben Silvas, Alaska (G, 6-3, 175, Jr., Tucson, AZ) had 33 points, shooting 62.5 percent (15-of-24) as the Nanooks made their 2014-15 season debut in the GCI Alaska Invitational.  The JC transfer from Arizona also had 16 rebounds, two assists and a steal and wasn’t charged with a turnover in earning all-tournament honors as the Nanooks won one of three contests.

2014-15 ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS:  Seattle Pacific (Nov. 14-15) – Cory Hutson, SPU; Mitch Penner, SPU; Jordan Russell, CWU; Joseph Stroud, CWU.  Dominican (Nov. 14-15) – Antoine Hosley, MSUB.  Sonoma State (Nov. 14-15) – Brian McGill, UAA.  Western Washington (Nov. 14-15) – Jeffrey Parker, WWU (MVP); Anye Turner, WWU; Joey Schreiber, WWU; Erik Kinney, NNU.  Alaska (Nov. 20-22) – Ruben Silvas, Alaska.  WOU  (Nov. 21-22) – Trey Ingram, SMU; Lewis Thomas, WOU. 

Team Notes

Alaska: Ruben Silvas and Ashton Edwards each had 33 points as the Nanooks lost two of three games in the GCI Alaska Invitational.  Silvas was named to the all-tournament team (See GNAC Player of the Week notes).  Edwards had  team highs for assists (10) and steals (5).

Alaska Anchorage: Guard Brian McGill had a GNAC season-high 14 assists Friday and a GNAC-season high 33 points Saturday in lopsided wins over Northwest Indian.  In two contests McGill had 40 points and 22 assists.  Kalidou Diouf had 39 points and a team-high 15 rebounds.

Central Washington: Gary Jacobs led the Wildcats with 26 points in losses to BYU-Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific at the BYU-Hawaii Classic.  Joseph Stroud had a team-high 11 rebounds,

Montana State Billings: Austin Hudson had 30 points, 16 rebounds and four steals, all team highs in games with Dixie State and Rocky Mountain.   Kendall Denham led the Yellowjackets with nine assists.

Northwest Nazarene:  Mike Wright, a transfer from the University of Waterloo, who redshirted last season at NNU, led the Crusaders with 29 points and also had seven assists in losses to Montana Northern and Westminster.  Wright made 11-of-18 shots, including 5-of-11 three-pointers.  Erik Kinney had 24 points and a team-high 17 rebounds.

Saint Martin’s:  Trey Ingram earned all-tournament honors in the Western Oregon Doubletree by Hilton D2 Shootout.  Ingram led SMU with 33 points, 15 assists and four steals and also had eight rebounds.  He made 7-of-15 three-point shots.  Tyler Copp had 32 points in the tournament, making 7-of-15 treys.

Seattle Pacific:  Center Cory Hutsen led the Falcons with 46 points in three contests as the Falcons won two of three games, splitting two contests in the BYU-Hawaii Classic.  Including Monday’s game in the Hawaii Hilo Classic, Hutsen has 927 career points.  Riley Stockton had 38 points, 12 assists, 12 rebounds and eight steals.

Simon Fraser:  Sango Niang netted 74 points and also had 19 assists, 16 rebounds and 11 steals in three games, including two NCAA contests in California.  Michael Harper scored 56 points and had 23 rebounds and Roderick Taylor-Evans had 50 points and 18 rebounds.

Western Oregon: Lewis Thomas was selected to the all-tournament team in the Western Oregon Doubletree by Hilton D2 Shootout.  Thomas had 22 points and 16 rebounds as the Wolves earned a split.  Andy Avgi led WOU with 28 points.

Western Washington:  Jaamon Echols scored 44 points and Ricardo Maxwell had 35 in the Vikings’ two losses in Puerto Rico.  Both players missed WWU’s first two games of the season.   Echols shot 58.3 percent from the floor (14-of-24).  Anye Turner had a team-high 15 rebounds in the two games.