ANCHORAGE (Feb. 23) - Western Washington guard Jacob Stevenson hit two free throws with 3 seconds left to lift his team a 71-70 victory over host UAA in men's basketball action at the Sports Center tonight.
Sophomore Peter Bullock led UAA (8-17, 8-8 GNAC) with 16 points, including the go-ahead putback with 18 seconds left. But Stevenson, who scored a game-high 21 points, was fouled by Mark Drake on a steal attempt and calmly sank both free throws. WWU improved to 19-6, 13-3.
UAA was once again hurt by its lack of muscle inside, getting beat 45-34 on the boards. And although the Seawolves committed just nine turnovers, they were never able to find the range from outside, going only 7 of 21 on three-pointers.
Following on the heels of Thursday's overtime loss to nationally ranked Seattle Pacific, the Seawolves dropped to 5-10 in games decided by 10 points or fewer. They are 0-4 in games decided by 1-3 points.
The Seawolves built their lead to as high as 43-37 as Ty Shippen scored all eight of his points in a 10-1 UAA run to start the second half. Shippen, a senior playing his final game at the Sports Center, logged all 40 minutes, finishing with six assists and no turnovers.
UAA led 46-41 after senior Jon Madison knocked down a three with 14:52 left, but the Vikings then put together a 16-2 run to take their largest lead a 57-48.
It was then UAA's turn for a streak, as UAA tied it 57-57 and took a 61-60 lead on Bullock's layup with 6:11 showing. A three-point play by Evans and a free throw from Bullock put the Seawolves up 65-60, but WWU replied with threes from guards Stevenson and Darnell Diggs to take a 66-65 lead.
Drake, UAA's second-leading scorer at 11.5 ppg, then managed just his second three-pointer of the night to put the Seawolves up 68-66. A Stevenson free throw and a short jumper by WWU center Mike Palm put the Vikings up by a point before Bullock followed his own miss with 18 seconds left.
Inbounding the ball from its own baseline with 6.7 seconds left, the Vikings narrowly avoided a turnover before Drake was whistled for fouling Stevenson. Three UAA times-out later, Jacobson sank both shots and a desperation mid-court shot from Nathon Glover fell short at the buzzer.
The Seawolves finish their season the road next week at Northwest Nazarene (Feb. 28) and Seattle University (March 2).
