ANCHORAGE (Jan. 22) - Seeing his first action in a Seawolf uniform, point guard Geoffrey Agmata capped one of the most incredible comebacks in school history with a steal and layup with under a second left, giving UAA a 84-82 win over Northwest Nazarene on Thursday.
The final score was the only lead of the game for the Seawolves (13-4, 3-3 GNAC), who finished the game with an 18-1 run. Peter Bullock scored a game-high 27 points and Adam Fitt-Chappell added 19, while NNU (7-7, 2-4) got an impressive 23-point, 12-assist performance from point guard Derek Olich.
The Crusaders scored the first 10 points of the game and slowly stretched their lead to as high as 51-31 before Kemmy Burgess ended the first half with a three that made it 51-34.
UAA opened the second half with seven straight points before NNU recovered and stayed up by double-digits the majority of the time. The Seawolves got within 67-60 with 10:06 remaining, but the Crusaders got back-to-back short jumper from Prentice Harris (16 points, 7-11 FG) to make it 81-66 with 5 minutes left.
A Fitt-Chappell layin and a steal and layup by Mark Drake quickly cut it to 81-70 at the 4-minute mark, and neither team could score over the next two minutes. Burgess hit a pair of free throws with 2:02 remaining, but the Seawolves still trailed by seven with under a minute left.
A Bullock free throw was followed by a steal and a Burgess three that made it 81-78 with 44 seconds showing. Agmata and Adam Simpson then combined on a trap at midcourt to steal the ball, and Bullock managed to hit one of two free throws with 14 seconds to go.
The Seawolves fouled Olich, a 77 percent free throw shooter, who made the first and missed the second. Blaine Durrant corralled the rebound and UAA took a timeout at midcourt. Burgess then took the inbounds pass and, with a defender in his face, nailed the game-tying three from the top of the key with 4 seconds left.
Rushing to get the last shot, NNU's Daniel Nyom fired a bullet inbounds pass that was intercepted by Agmata at the three-point line. The 5-5 sophomore from Kodiak turned down an open jumper, drove the baseline and banked in a layup with 0.7 on the clock. The Crusaders were unable to attempt a final shot, and UAA's players burst into celebration, hoisting Agmata on their shoulders.
It was the first time in uniform for Agmata after practicing with the team for a year and a half but not seeing game action. He finished with two points, two assists and three steals in eight minutes off the bench.
Burgess finished with 16 points and a career-best seven assists, nailing all four of his three-pointers. His accuracy accounted for just a fraction of the incredible shooting display put on by both teams. NNU finished 65 percent (30-46) from the floor, including 77 percent (13-17) on threes, while UAA shot 64 percent (33-52) overall and 59 percent (10-17) on threes. The Seawolves outrebounded the Crusaders 24-15 on a night when there were just 35 missed field goals.
Bullock shot 12 for 18 and blocked two shots, and Fitt-Chappell was 7 for 10 (4-6 3FG), scoring 11 of his points in the first eight minutes to keep UAA in the game early.
Olich finished 6 of 7 from three-point land, while Nyom and fellow big man Cam Wattling combined for 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting for the visitors from Nampa, Idaho.
The comeback was UAA's third-largest ever from a halftime deficit and was the second time this season the Seawolves have rallied from down 20 or more to win (Dec. 14 at Chaminade).
UAA, ranked No. 5 in the current West Region poll, faces another test Saturday when it hosts Seattle University (6-9, 2-4) at 7:05 p.m.
