ANCHORAGE – The Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team ended its longest layoff of the season with its biggest victory thus far, earning a 79-68 win Thursday over 19th-ranked BYU-Hawaii in the AT&T Alascom Jamboree at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
Led by 20 points apiece from forwards Carl Arts and Joe Davis, and 10 from Ivan Platenik, the Seawolves (8-2) won their third straight with 56 percent shooting and dominant interior play.
BYU-Hawaii (8-3) was led by Lucas Alves' 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, but the Seasiders' star was held to just two points in the second half.
The Seawolves – who hadn't played since a Dec. 9 win over Augustana (S.D.) – led nearly the entire game Thursday, falling behind briefly at 29-28 with 3:50 to play in the first half. That followed a 20-minute delay in which the gym had to be cleared due to a fire alarm.
When the action picked up, however, BYU-Hawaii's momentum was stifled and the Seawolves ended the half with a 12-2 run to go up 40-31 at the break.
UAA, which also got nine assists from point guard Luke Cooper, took complete control with a 17-8 spurt to begin the second half, taking a 57-39 lead on Davis' tip-in with 12:57 to play.
The Seasiders – UAA's first West Region opponent of the season – made it close down the stretch, pulling within 74-68 with two minutes left, but Seawolf freshman Trenton Millar claimed a key offensive rebound and sank a pair of free throws with 1:11 remaining to seal it.
It was UAA's fourth victory over a nationally ranked team in the past two seasons and kept the Seawolves perfect (5-0) against Division II competition this year.
For Davis, it was a successful return to the court after missing the first nine games due to academics. The junior from Columbus, Ohio, knocked down 10 of 13 shots and had an emphatic block in his return to the lineup.
Meanwhile Arts had another outstanding performance, equaling his career-highs with 20 points and six assists, plus a game-best nine rebounds. The Valdez native was named AT&T Alascom Player of the Game.
In Thursday's opening Jamboree matchup, Alaska Fairbanks repelled a late Hawaii-Hilo rally to claim an 85-74 victory.
Guard Kenny Barker poured in a game-high 24 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists, while forward Jushay Rockett came up with 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Nanooks (8-5).
Forward Justin Dobson and guard Vince Alvarado scored 17 points apiece to lead the Vulcans in the loss (3-8).
Friday's Jamboree action gets under way at 3 p.m. when BYU-Hawaii faces UAF, while UAA will take on Hilo at 7 p.m. The Seawolf women will play Notre Dame de Namur at 5 p.m. in a game that is not part of the Jamboree.
Admittance to all three games is allowed with the same ticket.
