SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University men's basketball team opens Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this weekend in The Last Frontier, taking on Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday before facing Alaska Anchorage on Saturday. Each game tips off at 8:30 p.m. PST
WIN #100
Seattle Pacific University men's basketball head coach Grant Leep secured career win 100 last Tuesday night. Leep's 100th career win came in his seventh year at the program's helm. He's led the Falcons to a regular season GNAC title during the 2019-20 season. Leep was named the conference's Coach of the Year as well. A season before, the Falcons won the GNAC Tournament and advanced to the West Region Semifinals.
IT WAS GOOD TO BE HOME
SPU played their home opener last Tuesday against Douglas College. Six Falcons scored in double-figures in the 114-63 drubbing. After 12 minutes of play, SPU led 44-14. They'd cruise to the monster victory from there.
The Falcons were led by 22 points from Jonas La Tour. He tied Trace Evans for a team-high eight rebounds while dishing out two assists and grabbing three steals. Kelton Samore, Shaw Anderson, Evans, and Julian Mora had 11 points each. It was a career-high for Mora. Zack Paulsen was the final Falcon to score in double-figures with 10 points.
On Saturday, the team picked up a 97-71 win over Warner Pacific. Ben Baker-McCann was outstanding for the Falcon on Saturday afternoon. He scored 14 points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds. The double-double was the first of his career.
UNSTOPPABLE ANDERSON
Shaw Anderson has been one of the best players in the GNAC before conference play. He's earned the Conference Player of the Week award twice in the first three weeks of the season. He leads the conference in scoring, averaging 22.5 points per game. The next closest player is Tru Allen of NNU with 17.7 ppg. Anderson ranks in the top 5 in the conference in 3-point percentage (51.9) and free throw percentage (92.1).
SCOUTING THE ALASKA FAIRBANKS NANOOKS (3-3)
The Nanooks are coming off one of the most magical seasons in recent memory. Schedule complications due to COVID-19 led to an expanded GNAC tournament, in which all 10 teams qualified. Fairbanks entered as the 10 seed, won the entire tournament, then advanced to the Finals of the NCAA West Regionals. Their run came to an end in the sweet 16 against Chico State.
Despite a deep postseason run a season ago, Alaska was picked to finish 10th in the GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll. They earned just 20 points from the conference coaches. Abdullahi Mohamed earned a unanimous selection on the Preseason All-Conference Team. He averaged 11.1 points per game on a 48.1 shooting percentage a season ago. He had 5.8 rebounds per game and blocked 14 shots.
SCOUTING THE ALASKA ANCHORAGE SEAWOLVES (4-3)
UAA had a successful 2021-22 season, going 15-9 overall with a 9-6 GNAC record. They took out SPU in the opening round of the expanded GNAC Tournament 88-75. The Seawolves entered the season picked to finish 6th in the GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll. They received 53 points and trailed SPU by a spot in the poll.
Newcomer Da'Zhon Wyche was named to the GNAC Preseason All-Conference Team. Wyche joins the Seawolves as a transfer from fellow NCAA Div. II program Texas-Tyler, where he was his team's second-leading scorer each of the last two seasons. Last season he helped the Patriots to a 16-10 record with 12.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game, shooting 35 percent from three-point range and 84 percent on free throws.
