ANCHORAGE (Jan. 8) - Peter Bullock scored a game-high 27 points, including the tie-breaking free throw with 24 seconds left, to lift the UAA men's basketball team to a 71-68 victory over rival Alaska Fairbanks at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex tonight.
A sellout crowd of 1,250 watched the Seawolves (12-2, 2-1 GNAC) win their seventh straight game, their longest streak since 1996-97. Swingman Brad Oleson led UAF (8-4, 1-2) with 16 points and eight rebounds.
The game was tight throughout. UAF's Ryan Jones nailed a three-pointer at the 15:32 mark to make it 49-41, the largest lead for either team. UAA answered with an 8-0 spurt as consecutive baskets by Adam Fitt-Chappell (8 points, 5 rebounds) brought the score even with 13:46 to play.
With the score tied 55-55 a few minutes later, Oleson drained his only three of the night to put the Nanooks up again. Two consecutive Bullock baskets gave UAA its first lead since 5:16 remained in the first, but UAF answered that with a 6-0 run, all on free throws by Oleson and Andrew Smith (14 points, 6 rebounds).
The Seawolves again pulled with a point at 66-65 on Bob Austin's layup with 2:20 to go before Jones knocked down another jumper 20 seconds later. UAA's Kemmy Burgess, who missed all five of his shots from inside the arc, answered by coming off a screen and knocking in a three-pointer from the top of the key. The Seawolves' second-leading scorer finished with nine points on 3-of-5 three-point shooting.
The Nanooks then committed a 35-second violation as Oleson couldn't beat the shot clock, and Bullock drew a foul from Ivan Miskovic on the ensuing possession. UAA's senior star missed the first foul shot but hit the second to make it 69-68 with 24 ticks remaining.
UAF's Norris Crawford then missed a runner in the lane and the rebound bounced wildly to center court, where UAA point guard Aaron Lawrence dove for the ball and was fouled with 6.8 seconds showing. Lawrence, an 85 percent free throw shooter, calmly sank both, and Nanook point guard Chris Smith missed a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer.
Burgess, who struggled with foul trouble all night, also had six rebounds and four assists, while Austin came off the bench with seven points (3-5 FG) and four rebounds (all offensive). Meanwhile, guards Jesse Brown and Lawrence dished five assists apiece.
Bullock, who is now just 15 points short of Hansi Gnad's school-record 1,666 points, shot 11 of 18 from the field, 5 of 8 from the line and grabbed nine rebounds to go with a pair of blocks.
With the victory, UAA equaled the best 14-game start in school history, matching the 12-2 record of the 1986-87 team.
Things don't get any easier for the Seawolves, who next face a road showdown at 2nd-ranked Humboldt State on Jan. 15.
