ANCHORAGE (Feb. 9) - Eric Draper poured in a career-high 27 points and
James Hartman posted a double-double as the UAA men's basketball cruised to a 100-76 victory over Northwest Nazarene on Thursday at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
UAA (15-9, 6-6 GNAC) shot 53.5 percent for the game, sparked by Luke Cooper's 12 assists, and reached the century mark for the first time the fourth time this season. NNU (9-12, 4-8) got 16 points and five assists from point guard Marcus Clift.
The Seawolves fell behind 18-11 in the first seven minutes as NNU standout Mesut Ademoglu tallied eight early points. But UAA would catch fire after that, closing the half with a 31-10 spurt for a 44-28 lead.
Ademoglu, a 6-10 senior who entered with a 17.9-point scoring average, would not score again until almost 9 minutes remained in the game. He finished with 13 points.
Led by the hot hand of Draper (9-19 FG, 6-14 3FG, 3-3 FT), UAA quickly ended all doubt in the second half, pushing its lead to 52-31 on a Hartman fastbreak layup and going up 62-37 on an inside move by Joe Davis.
The Seawolves' advantage grew as high as 99-64 on Robert Hellerstedt's layup - the freshman's first field goal of the season - before NNU scored 12 of the last 13 points.
UAA, which shot 53.5 percent (38 of 71) from the floor, pushed its WFSC record to 9-0 this season and made it 10 straight wins overall on its primary home court.
Hartman finished with 18 points (6-6 FG, 4-4 3FG, 2-5 FT) and 12 rebounds for his team-best third double-double of the year, and he dished a career-high six assists.
Meanwhile, leading scorer Kemmy Burgess quietly increased his average with a 22-point night. Although the senior went an uncharacteristic 1 of 6 from three-point range, he connected on 9 of 13 from inside the arc.
Cooper's assist total marked the sixth time in his career that he has reached double digits in that category, making the sophomore just the fourth Seawolf to accomplish the feat that many times.
The Seawolves - who have won their five Great Northwest Athletic Conference home games by an average of 22.2 points - face a stiffer test on Saturday when fifth-ranked Seattle Pacific (19-2, 11-1 GNAC) brings its 5-game winning streak into the WFSC on Saturday (7 p.m.).
