ANCHORAGE - Freshman Peter Bullock scored 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and made several key plays down the stretch as the University of Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team scored a 96-94 comeback win over Western New Mexico at the Sports Center Saturday night.
The win clinches a tie for the Pacific West Conference's Pacific Division title for UAA (18-7, 12-4 PWC). Western New Mexico (1-24, 1-15) was led by the hot shooting of Antonio Anderson, who scored 32 points on 11-of-19 shooting.
UAA came out sluggish and trailed 10-0 just three minutes into the game. But senior point guard Ed Kirk, who came off the bench for the first time in his career, entered and brought the Seawolves back to grab a 16-15 advantage. But the Mustangs didn't fold, and took a 43-42 halftime lead on Chris Williams' 40-foot jumper at the buzzer.
The Seawolves trailed by as many as eight points at four different occasions in the second half and found themselves down 78-71 with 5:33 showing. Kirk, who finished with a team-high 25 points, then knocked down a three-pointer, and Greg Freeman followed with a layup and drew a foul. Freeman missed the free throw, but Bullock grabbed the rebound, converted the basket and drew the fifth foul on WNMU center Nickolas Frey. Bullock hit the charity, giving the Seawolves a 79-78 lead they would not relinquish.
Bullock, who passed Jim Hajdukovich to become the all-time leading freshman scorer at UAA, finished 10-of-12 from the field. Kirk had a career-high-tying 10 assists for the second straight game, while Freeman contributed 15 points and eight rebounds. Guards Cody Gallatin (13 points) and Nathon Glover (11) also reached double figures for the Seawolves, who were without starting shooting guard Taylor Wagner because of a leg injury.
The 96 points extends to 18 games the UAA school record for consecutive games scoring 80 or more.
UAA takes the court for their final home game Saturday night when it will try to win the Pacific Division title outright against arch-rival Alaska Fairbanks. That game tips off at 8 p.m. at the Sports Center.
