ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Feb. 6) - Adam Fitt-Chappell scored 21 of his 23 points in the final 10 minutes to help the UAA men's basketball team to a thrilling 80-78 victory over host Central Washington at a raucous Nicholson Pavilion tonight.
The Seawolves (9-10, 6-4 GNAC) also got double-figure scoring from Mark Drake (11), Jesse Brown (10) and Peter Bullock (10), who controlled the glass with a game-high 17 rebounds.
Kasey Ulin came off the bench to lead the Wildcats with 21 points, but he couldn't get the ball for the final shot as CWU's Scott Freymond and Mike Conner both missed potential tying jumpers in the final 10 seconds.
UAA controlled the backboards 40-28 and outshot CWU 51.8 percent to 46.6 percent. The win gave the Seawolves a season sweep over the Wildcats (11-8, 5-5), who fell a half-game behind UAA in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings.
Down 38-31 at halftime, UAA got four points apiece from Bullock and Brown and a jumper from Blaine Durrant to cut it to 42-41 with 17:05 remaining. A Brown layup a minute later gave UAA a short-lived lead before CWU came back to forge a 59-51 advantage with 10:15 left.
After two Bryson Vaughan free throws, Fitt-Chappell snagged a steal and finished with a dunk at the 10:02 mark, cutting it to 59-55. The 6-foot-5 Eagle River freshman then took over from the field, pulling up for an assortment of midrange jumpers as he finished 8-for-12 from the field and 6-for-7 from the free throw line.
There were four ties and the lead changed six times, the final occurrence coming when Bob Austin scored a rebound basket - his only two points - with 6:11 remaining to make it 66-65. The Wildcats, behind a crowd of 1,521, rallied to bring it within a point on three more occasions.
Holding a 78-77 lead, Fitt-Chappell nailed his final jumper with 38 seconds left. But Bullock, who came one short of his career rebounding high, then quickly picked up his fifth foul, leading to a 1-of-2 free throw trip for Conner. UAA was called for a 10-second violation on the ensuing possession, but held on when the Wildcats couldn't convert.
Fitt-Chappell, whose career-high 24 was scored on the road Dec. 5 at Northwest Nazarene, scored UAA's final eight points.
Meanwhile, Brown equaled his career-best scoring output, which came against CWU in UAA's 81-74 win Jan. 9.
Bullock's double-double was his third consecutive and 11th of the season. The junior power forward also had an assist, a block and two steals.
The Seawolves finish their road trip Saturday at Saint Martin's (0-20, 0-10) in Lacey, Wash. Tip-off is 6:05 p.m. AST.
