SEATTLE -- Oggie Pantovic and Tobin Karlberg combined for 40 second-half points Thursday to help third-seeded Alaska Anchorage rally from a 10-point deficit and defeat No. 6 seed Seattle Pacific, 88-75, in the quarterfinal round of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament.
 
Those two Seawolves were each limited to four first-half points. Pantovic amassed 23 points after halftime en route to a game-high 27 points. He collected 10 rebounds for a double-double that sparked his team's 33-21 rebounding margin.
 
Karlberg's 17 second-half points gave him 21 for the game. He ignited the decisive run of 17 unanswered points with the first five of that spree. The surge converted a 60-50 deficit into a 67-60 lead with 7:15 remaining that UAA would never relinquish.
 
SPU twice drew within six points, the last time on four consecutive points from Divant'e Moffitt that trimmed the deficit to 79-73 with 2:40 left to play. But, Pantovic answered with a 3-pointer that fueled the final stretch when he tallied UAA's last nine points.
 
DIVANT'E MOFFIT SPIN MOVE

The Seawolves (15-8) advance to Friday's conference semifinals for a meeting with 10th-seeded Alaska Fairbanks, which has made a stunning, two-day run through the GNAC Tournament. On Wednesday, the Nanooks were 91-83 overtime victors over Simon Fraser before Thursday's 83-62 upset of No. 2 Northwest Nazarene.
 
That semifinal matchup takes place on Friday at 5:15 p.m. in Marcus Pavilion on the campus of host Saint Martin's. The top-seeded Saints lost to No. 9 Western Oregon, which meets No. 4 Central Washington at 7:30 p.m. in Friday's other semifinal.
 
Seattle Pacific (14-13) saw its season come to a close with a four-game losing streak. That was the second straight GNAC Tournament loss to UAA in Seattle. In the semifinals of the 2020 playoffs, Pantovic poured in 23 points in an 86-85 Anchorage win.
 
Thursday's game was contested on SPU's Iron Coaching Court at Brougham Pavilion, but the higher-seeded Seawolves were designated as the "home" team and wore the traditional home white uniforms. The Falcons were situated on the visitors' bench.
 
"It was a little bit odd at first. I've been here for 13 years and I've never been on that side of the court for a game," said SPU coach Grant Leep. " It was strange, but once the game gets going you just kind of get back into your usual habits."
 
COACH GRANT LEEP INTERVIEW

SCORING SUMMARY
Moffitt paced SPU with 26 points on 9-for-17 shooting from the field. He converted all eight of his free throws and also contributed four assists and four rebounds.
 
Harry Cavell was the only other Falcon in double figures, with 11 points. His eight rebounds topped the team.
 
Seattle Pacific finished the game at 51 percent from the floor (26 of 51) and made 7 of 21 shots from 3-point range.
 
Anchorage doubled that trey total with 14 in 31 attempts. UAA shot 49 percent overall (29 of 59).
 
"Alaska Anchorage did such a good job. They continually rose to the occasion and hit such timely shots," Leep said. "They went on a big run when we just had such a hard time getting a stop. We had a few turnovers which led to points for them.
 
"They made 14 threes and that's a recipe for them to play really well."
 
In the last encounter, on Jan. 29 in Seattle, UAA was limited to 8-for-29 shooting on 3-pointers in a 91-59 Falcons rout.
 
Two other Seawolves joined Pantovic and Karlberg in double digits. Keegan Crosby scored 15 points and David Rowlands had 11.
 
FINE FALCONS FIRST HALF
SPU scored in each of its first six possessions, four times making a two-point basket to go with five free throws. That provided a 13-9 edge with 15:37 left in the half. The Seawolves stayed close with shots from distance. The drained 3 of their first 4 treys.
 
The opening 12 points all came via the 3-pointer for UAA, which got treys on six of its eight scoring possessions.
 
The Falcons answered with 3-pointers of their own, after not even attempting a shot behind the arc for the opening 6-1/2 minutes. Bijon Sidhu nailed a trey at 13:31, the first of three he nailed in less than three minutes. He surpassed his career-high of six points during that stretch alone.
 
Syon Blackmon and Jacob Medjo also hit treys as long-range shots account for 15 straight SPU points that enabled the Falcons to construct a 33-21 advantage.
 
"We did a nice job getting stops, allowing us to play in transition and that's probably when we are at our best," said Leep. "We had really good possessions where the ball was moving after getting into the paint. We finished those plays and our guys made shots.
 
"We had a harder time making shots, especially from the three, in the second half. Ultimately, you have to make shots in this game and credit to Anchorage for doing it."
 
JACOB MEDJO BACKDOOR LAYUP FROM DIVANT'E MOFFITT PASS

The Seawolves later conclude the period with a 12-6 run to draw within four points. They would have been even closer, but were whistled for a foul while double-teaming Moffitt far behind the 3-point arc with 0.4 seconds showing on the clock. He sank both free throws to set the halftime score at 41-37 in the Falcons favor.
 
SPU shot 52 percent, hitting 13 of 25 first-half shots. That figure featured 5-for-9 accuracy on 3-pointers.
 
Anchorage countered with 42-percent shooting (14 of 33) and made 8 of 17 treys.
 
SECOND-HALF SURGE
The teams traded baskets on eight straight occasions before one of them strung together a run. That team was SPU, which scored five straight for a 55-46 lead.
 
Shortly after that Medjo hit a trey before the Falcons claimed their largest second-half lead, at 60-50, on a put-back layup by Cavell at 13:21. But Cavell was issued a technical foul for taunting after flexing after the basket.
 
Karlberg converted both technical free throws, and then completed a three-point play with a driving layup and free throw, to start the Seawolves on the 17-0 spree that sent them in front for good.
 
SPU went nine straight possessions without producing a point, until Shaw Anderson finished a drive with a flip shot to bring his team within 67-62 with 6:50 remaining.
 
SHAW ANDERSON DRIVE AND HOOK

FALCONS FAST FACTS
• Harry Cavell completed his career ranked No. 7 among all-time SPU scorers with 1,510 points and 10th in rebounds with 678. He is one of only four players currently ranked among the Top-10 Falcons in both points and rebounds, joining Jim Ballard (1970-72), Howard Heppner (1962-66) and Brannon Stone (1998-2002).
 
• Divant'e Moffitt achieved the 21st 500-point season in school history, pushing his total to 521 in 2021-22. With four assists Thursday, Moffitt notched his first 100-assist campaign. His 103-assist total is the 43rd-highest by a Falcon. Moffitt increased his career total to 1,460 points to rank No. 8 among all-time SPU players.
 
RECORDS
Seattle Pacific 14-13
Alaska Anchorage 15-8