Men's Basketball Weekly Report

Feb. 2, 2015 Contact: Bob Guptill ([email protected]) 503-305-8756 /www.gnacsports.com Wolves Take 2-Game Lead On the Road To Ellensburg, Nampa Conf. GNAC W L Western Oregon 10 1 Seattle Pacific 8 3 Alaska Anchorage 8 3 Central Washington 7 3 Northwest Nazarene 7 3 Western Washington 4 7 Simon Fraser 3 8 Saint Martin’s 3 8 (x) Alaska 2 9 MSU Billings 2 9 (x) – Ineligible for post-season All W 18 16 12 12 9 11 8 6 5 4 L 3 5 9 5 11 10 11 15 14 17 H 11-1 7-1 7-5 7-1 4-3 10-2 7-4 4-5 4-5 2-7 Meanwhile, Seattle Pacific (16-5, 8-3) and Alaska Anchorage (12-9, 8-3), who are tied for second each finish their season with five home games and just two away contests. A N 6-2 1-0 5-4 4-0 5-3 0-1 3-3 2-1 4-5 1-3 0-6 1-2 0-7 1-0 2-5 0-5 1-6 0-3 1-8 1-2 One of UAA’s home games is during the final week when it host Western Oregon on Thursday (Feb. 26). WOU’s only remaining home games are a week earlier against Western Washington and Simon Fraser. Nine GNAC eligible teams are all looking to earn one of the six playoff berths available for the conference tournament which will be played during the first week of March at Billings, Mont. LAST WEEK: Thursday – Alaska 71 at Simon Fraser 79; Alaska Anchorage 81 at Western Washington 76; MSU Billings 74 at Western Oregon 94; Seattle Pacific 84 at Saint Martin’s 52. Saturday – Alaska 57 at Western Washington 80; Alaska Anchorage 115 at Simon Fraser 98; Central Washington 64 at Northwest Nazarene 66; MSU Billings 64 at Saint Martin’s 75; Seattle Pacific 84 at Western Oregon 94 (2ot). The men’s tournament begins Thursday, March 5 with the No. 3 and No. 6 and the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds facing off in the opening round. Game times are at 5:15 and 7:30. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, meanwhile, receive byes in the opening round. THIS WEEK: Thursday – Western Oregon at Central Washington; Simon Fraser at MSU Billings; Saint Martin’s at Northwest Nazarene; Western Washington at Seattle Pacific. Saturday – Alaska at Alaska Anchorage, 7:30 p.m.; Saint Martin’s at Central Washington; Western Washington at MSU Billings; Western Oregon at Northwest Nazarene; Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific, 4 p.m. The semifinals will be played Friday at 5:15 and 7:30 p.m. with the championship game played Saturday at 7:30. The winner earns an automatic berth in the eight-team NCAA West Regional tournament beginning the following Friday (March 13). WOU Finishes Season With 5 of 7 Games On Road PORTLAND, Ore. – With seven games left on its regularseason schedule, Western Oregon has a two-game lead in the loss column on its four closest pursuers. In addition to the WOU-CWU game, this Thursday’s schedule will also send Saint Martin’s (6-15, 3-8) to Northwest Nazarene, Western Washington (11-10, 4-7) to Seattle Pacific and Simon Fraser (8-11, 3-8) to MSU Billings (4-17, 2-9). The Wolves (18-3, 10-1) also have the toughest schedule during the final four weeks of the season playing five of its final seven games on the road including a challenging road trip to Ellensburg and Nampa this week. Alaska (5-14, 2-9) and Alaska Anchorage are idle until playing their rivalry game Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. WOU, which is 7-2 on the road including a neutral site win, opens this week’s trip Thursday against Central Washington (12-5, 7-3) before taking on Northwest Nazarene (9-11, 7-3) Saturday. WOU Ranked 20th in NABC Coaches Poll Western Oregon moved up to 20th place from 24th in this week’s NABC national poll after earning home wins over Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific last week. Both CWU and NNU have eight games remaining, four at home and four on the road. 1