Bracket set for GNAC men's basketball as Saints take a shot at history

After the end of the NCAA Div II regular season, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) has released the bracket and schedule for the men’s basketball regional championship, with Lacey’s representatives from Saint Martin’s University facing the University of Alaska Anchorage in the opening quarterfinal match of the playoff at the newly renovated Nicholson Pavilion in Central Washington University on March 7, Thursday, at 5:15 p.m. tip-off.

This is after the Saints, led by head coach Allan Landon, finished as the #3 seed in the conference after garnering a 21-7 overall win-loss record, with an 11-7 record on the GNAC teams, as the Saints march on to vie for the regional trophy in men’s basketball and more importantly, clinch an automatic berth to the NCAA Division II West Region Championships.

First, the Saints’s order of business is to outwit the #6 seed University of Alaska Anchorage this Thursday at Ellensburg.

Despite the gap in the seeding, the Saint’s first opponents are no fluke. Finishing the season with a 20-9 win-loss record with 10-8 on GNAC schools, the Seawolves won twice against the Saints in the regular season, beating them at Anchorage, 71-68, last January, and recently completing the sweep with a nail-biting 80-79 thriller in Lacey.

The Saints, who were the regular season leaders last season, aim to avenge these defeats on their steep hunt for their first-ever conference tournament trophy, advancing to the GNAC Championships for the ninth time overall, after a resurgence in their basketball program post-pandemic, where they have now qualified for the tournament for three years in a row.

Leading the title charge for the Saints is senior guard Kyle Greeley, who averaged 16.3 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game in the season, while junior guard Jaden Nielsen-Skinner sparked the playmaking department as he led the team in assists at 4.7 APG. The efficiency of vital players such as three-point specialist Marcel Stevens and monster in the paint Shakeem Alcindor would also be crucial for the Saints to get the chip.

Should the Saints win on Thursday, they will face the #2 seed Northwest Nazarene in the semifinals on Friday, March 8, at 5:15 PM. The Saints lost their final game of the season against the Nighthawks in a 68-59 overtime win at Nampa.

All games of this year’s GNAC Championship, including the final on Saturday, March 9, would be hosted by Central Washington University in E-burg for the first time, as their Nicholson Pavilion underwent a $60 million renovation just this year.

The tournament would also be streamed online through the GNAC Sports YouTube Channel, while tickets and tournament passes are available here.