ANCHORAGE (Jan. 19) - Joe Davis led a balanced scoring effort with 20 points and fellow sophomore
Luke Cooper dished 13 more assists Thursday to help the Seawolf men's basketball team an 85-67 victory over Humboldt State at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
UAA (12-7, 3-4 GNAC) snapped a nine-game losing streak against HSU (9-5, 3-3) and notched its first-ever win over the Lumberjacks in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game. Forward Kevin Johnson led the visitors with 16 points and nine rebounds.
The Seawolves took control from the outset and built a 38-24 lead with 4:07 to play in the first half. But the Lumberjacks, who entered as the No. 10-ranked team in the West Region in this week's initial poll, closed the half on a 10-2 run to go in trailing just 40-34.
UAA was the aggressor from the start of the second 20 minutes, getting five quick points from senior Adam Fitt-Chappell to go up 45-36. Johnson brought the visitors from Arcata, Calif, back with five a few moments later, but the Seawolves put the game out of reach with a 14-0 spurt that began with a Fitt-Chappell layup and ended with a Fitt-Chappell three-pointer.
With his perfect shooting night (5-5 FG, 3-3 3FG, 6-6 FT), Fitt-Chappell tallied 19 points and moved into 16th place on UAA's all-time scoring list with 970.
Fitt-Chappell, who came off the bench after starting the last 13 games, combined with fellow sub Davis to put on a marksmanship display. Davis, a power forward from Columbus, Ohio, made 8 of 10 shots, including his only three-point try, and drained 3 of 3 from the foul line.
UAA's leading scorer, guard Kemmy Burgess, managed 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting (4-9 3FG) and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Fellow senior James Hartman was the fourth Seawolf in double figures with 10 points, while starting senior forward Brian Hills had an efficient outing with eight points (4-7 FG), six rebounds and a career-best four assists.
Meanwhile, Cooper tallied at least 13 assists for the third straight home game, giving him three of the top 10 single-game assist totals in school history. The Australian now ranks second in the GNAC with 6.0 apg.
The Seawolves will try to even their league record once again when they host Western Oregon (6-9, 1-5) at the WFSC on Saturday. That game tips off at approximately 7 p.m. AST, following the Seawolf women's game against Seattle.
