By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – After each hoisting a championship trophy on Saturday night at Marcus Pavilion, the Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball team and Seattle Pacific men’s basketball team were recognized as the co-Great Northwest Athletic Conference Teams of the Week.
 
The Falcons upended top-seed Central Washington 72-61 in the GNAC Men’s Basketball Championships title game, earning their conference-record fifth GNAC tournament trophy. The Seawolf women meanwhile delivered a 75-59 win over no. 6 seed Saint Martin’s in the GNAC Women’s Basketball Championships title tile, securing their record seventh conference tournament crown.
 
Seattle Pacific (18-14) continues its 2024-25 campaign at the NCAA West Region Championships, where it earned the No. 8 seed and will square off against top seed and tournament host Point Loma. Tipoff in the regional quarterfinal game is set for 5 p.m. on Friday in San Diego.
 
Alaska Anchorage (27-4) earned the No. 4 seed into the NCAA West Region Championships and will face familiar foe No. 5 seed Montana State Billings in a first-round matchup between two GNAC teams. Tipoff time is to be determined, with the game set for Friday in Carson, Calif., at the site of tournament host Cal State Dominguez Hills.
 
Seattle Pacific’s road to its first conference tournament crown since 2019 began with a tie for third place in the GNAC regular-season standings, as it went 11-7 in conference play this season. SPU made a statement in the quarterfinals last Thursday, running past No. 6 seed Alaska Fairbanks 81-47 to cruise into the semifinals. Eventual GNAC Championships MVP Mason Landdeck had 19 points, 14 rebounds, four steals and four assists in the thrashing, while fellow all-tournament selections Owen Moriarty (18 points) and Jaxon Nap (12 points, 12 rebounds) each also had standout performances.
 
SPU’s first upset of the week came in the semifinals on Friday, where the Falcons out-lasted No. 2 seed Northwest Nazarene 73-68 in a much tighter affair. Landdeck knocked down five 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 24 points, Nap just missed another double-double with nine points and 11 boards and Julian Mora delivered a 15-point performance off the bench on 6-for-7 shooting and three 3-pointers.
 
Wasting no time in building a lead in the title game, the Falcons flew out to a 33-20 halftime advantage and never looked back in the championship-clinching, 72-61 triumph over the Wildcats. Beating CWU for the first time this season, SPU relied on a game-high 20 points from Moriarty, while Landdeck scored 14 and Nap had a tournament-high 15 rebounds. SPU kept its record in GNAC Championships title games spotless at 5-0, after winning three straight from 2013-15 and adding its most recent crown in 2019.
 
Keffrey Fazio delivered a 3-0 performance at the conference tournament in just his second season in charge of the program and has secured winning seasons in both of his campaigns as head coach after going 17-15 in 2023-24.
 
On the women’s side, the Seawolves won twice to claim their crown after earning a first-round bye with the No. 1 overall seed. UAA broke the tournament record for fewest points allowed in its 67-38 semifinal win over Western Washington on Thursday, punching its ticket to the title game. GNAC Championships MVP Tori Hollingshead narrowly missed a double-double in the game, scoring 13 points and adding eight rebounds, three steals and two assists in 29 minutes. All-tournament selection and GNAC Defensive Player of the Year and GNAC Newcomer of the Year Emilia Long scored a team-best 15 points and had eight assists and three steals to help secure the lopsided win.
 
UAA earned a payback win against No. 6 seed Saint Martin’s in the championship game, with the Saints having handed them a 57-53 loss just seven days earlier in the regular-season finale. This time, UAA commanded its way to a 16-point win, overcoming foul trouble and dominating the glass and turnover margin to claim the trophy. Hollingshead tied her career high with 15 rebounds and added 18 points to wrap up MVP honors, and senior guard Jazzpher Evans had a game-high six assists to go along with nine points to land on the all-tournament team as well.
 
The Seawolves secured their first conference tournament title since 2020, and for the sixth time emerged as both the regular-season and conference tournament champion in the same campaign. UAA is also the only GNAC program – women’s or men’s – to compete in all 14 GNAC Championships tournaments. The Seawolves’ nine GNAC regular-season titles are the most of any school in either gender as well.
 
UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy earned his sixth GNAC Coach of the Year award this season, the most of any basketball coach in conference history.