• Final Statistics
ANCHORAGE – Travis Thompson scored eight of his 16 points during the final 3:12 Thursday, lifting 21st-ranked Alaska Anchorage to a 78-69 men's basketball win over Seattle Pacific at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
The Seawolves (16-4) won their fifth straight, improving to 10-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play to solidify their second-place position. They own a two-game lead over third-place SPU (16-5), which dropped to 8-4 in league action with just its second loss in the last nine outings.
The top-two teams in the final regular-season standings receive first-round byes to the six-team GNAC Tournament that takes place Feb. 29-Mar. 3 at Marcus Pavilion on the Saint Martin's campus in Lacey, Wash.
After trailing by double-figures for much of the second half, SPU drew within 63-57 on a 3-pointer by
Jake Anderson with 4:30 left to play. But Steve White hit a free throw and Thompson followed with a trey with 3:12 remaining to extend the lead back to 10 points.
Anderson (Burlington, Wash./Burlington-Edison HS) came off the bench to drain three 3-pointers in five attempts. The rest of the Falcons combined to shoot 3 of 15 on treys, including 0-for-6 for
David Downs (Kirkland, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS). He entered the game ranked No. 14 nationally in 3-point accuracy at 46.8 percent.
Thompson converted five of six free throws inside the final 35 seconds to secure the win.
Downs led all scorers with 22 points and distributed seven assists for the Falcons, who also got 12 points from
Andy Poling and 10 from
Jobi Wall.
White finished with 15 points for Anchorage and Taylor Rohde added 13.
The Seawolves became only the second team to shoot 50 percent against SPU this season, making 51 percent (23 of 45) of their shots. They hit 11 of 19 attempts from 3-point range.
In this year's first meeting UAA made just six treys in 22 tries and shot 31 percent from the field. Anchorage lost 85-51 in Seattle on Jan. 7, its second-largest margin of defeat in the all-time series against the Falcons.
The SPU men claimed their only lead of the game, at 6-5, on a layup by Downs with 17:49 left in the first half. They did not make another basket for the next 7:08, missing six shots and committing four turnovers before Downs hit a jumper at 10:41.
UAA capitalized on the drought and went on a 15-2 run to surge ahead 20-8.
The Seawolves shot 64 percent (14 of 22) in the first half, including 7-of-9 accuracy on treys, en route to a 41-30 halftime advantage.
The Falcons shot 46 percent (22 of 48) for the game.
Thursday's game continued a trend in the series that has seen the home team win the last 15 meetings. SPU suffered its seventh straight setback in Anchorage while the Seawolves were defeated in each of their last eight visits to Seattle.
The SPU men remain in Alaska, playing at Fairbanks on Saturday at 3 p.m. Pacific Time.
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Wells Fargo Sports Complex/Anchorage, Ak.
at (#21) Alaska Anchorage 78, Seattle Pacific 69
SEATTLE PACIFIC (16-5, 8-4 GNAC)
Wall 4-7 0-0 10, Hutsen 1-1 3-4 5, Poling 5-12 2-4 12, Downs 7-15 8-9 22, Dorman 0-2 2-2 2, Anderson 3-5 0-0 9, Stockton 2-4 3-4 8, Niang 0-1 1-6 1, Morse 0-0 0-0 0, Carel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-48 19-29 69.
ALASKA ANCHORAGE (16-4, 10-2 GNAC)
Rohde 5-6 3-3 13, Thompson 3-10 7-8 16, White 4-7 7-9 15, Lauwers 3-6 0-0 8, Fossman 3-3 0-0 9, Demissie 3-3 0-0 8, Ridgeway 2-9 0-0 5, Gibcus 0-0 2-2 2, Jackson 0-1 2-2 2, Hearn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-45 21-24 78.
Seattle Pacific.......... 30 39 - 69
Alaska Anchorage......... 41 37 - 78
3-point goals--SPU 6-20 (Anderson 3-5, Wall 2-4, Stockton 1-3, Dorman 0-2, Downs 0-6), UAA 11-19 (Fossman 3-3, Thompson 3-8, Lauwers 2-5, Demissie 2-2, Ridgeway 1-1). Fouled out--SPU-None, UAA-None. Rebounds--SPU 31 (Poling, Wall 6), UAA 21 (Rohde 5). Assists--SPU 17 (Downs 7), UAA 18 (Ridgeway, White 5). Total fouls--SPU 21, UAA 20. Technical fouls--SPU-None, UAA-None. A-692.
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks
Saturday, Feb. 4, 3:00 p.m. PST
Patty Center/Fairbanks, Ak.
