GNAC Weekly Report

WEEKLY RELEASE


Monday, Dec. 13 - Basketball: West, Dickerson Are National Leaders

Parrish West of Alaska Fairbanks and Derek Dickerson of Western Washington are the national scoring and three-point percentage leaders in the first NCAA Division II national statistical report of the 2010-11 season.

West is aveaging 31.4 points per game, while Dickerson is shooting 58.1 percent from the arc, making 18 of 31.

Five other GNAC players rank among the Top 10 in the inaugural report.

Chris Banchero of Seattle Pacific, who ranks 14th in scoring, is eighth in assists (6.5). Blake Poole of Saint Martin's ranks eighth in rebounds (10.9) and Chris Sprinker of Central Washington is fifth in blocked shots (3.0).

In the women's division, Sara Zahler of Western Oregon ranks second in free throw percentage (96.6) and WOU's Rylee Peterson is ninth in blocked shots (3.0).

In team categories, Western Washington's men rank fourth in scoring (91.9) and ninth in assists (19.4). Seattle Pacific is fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.57) and Central Washington ranks eighth in blocked shots (5.6).

Western Washington's women are ranked eighth in scoring defense (51.1). Alaska Anchorage is ninth with a 51.4 opponent average. The Seawolves are also eighth in field goal percentage defense (32.2).

Central Washington is fourth in blocked shots (6.4) and Northwest Nazarene is fifth in turnover margin (9.75).

Sunday, Dec. 12 - Men's Basketball: Vikings Rally From 22 Down For Win

Guard Shedrick Nelson scored 19 of his team-high 25 points in the final 17:28 as Western Washington overcame a 22-point second-half deficit to defeat Academy of Art 84-80 in a NCAA Division II West Region game Sunday afternoon at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

It was the fifth straight win for the Vikings (6-1), who also got 17 points and 10 rebounds from forward Michael Duty.

AAU (2-5) got a game-high 29 points from freshman forward William Overton, Jr.  Forward Jonathan Burnett had 17 points , 15 in the first half, and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, and guard Keith Davis added 13 points.

An Overton three-pointer gave the Urban Knights a 60-38 lead with 17:18 remaining.  Western, however, scored the next 22 points, tying in on a three-pointer by Nelson with 11:09 to go.

AAU went ahead by six points (68-62) at 8:33, but a 13-6 run gave the Vikings their first lead (75-74) on a free throw by forward Rory Blanche with 2:52 to go.

A three-point play by Duty put Western ahead to stay (78-76) at 2:20, and Nelson had a layup and later a free throw put the Vikings up by five 98-76) at 1:16.  AAU never got closer than three after that.

AAU hit 71.9 percent (23-32) in the first half, scoring 12 of the game's 14 points over the first five minutes.  After Western came back to tie the game at 27-all with 6:16 left in the opening period, the Urban Knights scored 20 straight points for a 47-27 lead with 1:57 to go and led 53-34 at halftime.  Davis scored nine consecutive points during the AAU run.