ANCHORAGE (Feb. 21) - UAA shot well and had a trio of 20-point scorers, but 12th-ranked Seattle Pacific was too tough on the boards, using a huge rebounding advantage to eke out a 95-86 overtime victory at the Sports Center tonight.
Sophomore forward Peter Bullock led UAA (8-16, 8-7 GNAC) with team-highs of 23 points and 13 rebounds, while center Eric Sandrin dominated inside for SPU (21-3, 13-2) with 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Falcons outrebounded the Seawolves 43-25.
After Cody Gallatin's desperation three-pointer came up short at the end of regulation, SPU was nearly flawless in the extra session. Sandrin tapped the opening jump to SPU forward Yusef Aziz (26 pts, 7 reb, 10-17 FG), who streaked downcourt for a layup to start the scoring. Gallatin, who scored a career-best 22 for the Seawolves, answered with a three-pointer and the teams went back and forth until Shane Bannarbie staked UAA to a 78-77 advantage on an 18-foot jumper with 2:59 left.
But the Falcons were almost perfect, answering with a three-pointer from point guard Maurice Cato and a steal and dunk by Aziz to take an 82-78 advantage. Bullock, whose double-double was his 13th this season, hit two free throws to cut the margin in half, but that was as close as the Seawolves got. SPU finished the extra session 6-for-6 from the field, including three three-pointers, and 10-for-11 from the free throw stripe.
The Seawolves hung tough with the Falcons thanks to deadly perimeter shooting from Gallatin (5-8 3FG) and freshman Mark Drake (21 pts, 5-7 3FG). Ty Shippen and Nathon Glover each hit their only long-range attempts at UAA wound up a season-best 60 percent (12 of 20) on threes. UAA was impressive from the free-throw line also, hitting 12 of 13.
Sandrin, the Falcons' 6-10 center, was the difference in the game, snagging eight of his 12 rebounds on the offensive end. He also had five assists, two blocks and two steals while shooting 7 for 13. Cato and guard Nick Johnson (11-11 FT) both scored 17 for the Falcons, who hung on to sole possession of second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
UAA winds up its home season Saturday against Western Washington. Tip-off for Senior Night is 8 p.m. at the Sports Center.
