MONMOUTH, Ore. ? Seniors Carl Arts and McCade Olsen combined for 45 points to help the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team run its win streak to eight games with a 68-62 win over Western Oregon on Thursday in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
Senior point guard Luke Cooper had seven points and nine assists for the Seawolves (10-3, 1-0 GNAC), while Arts grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.
WOU (7-3, 0-1) got 18 points and eight rebounds off the bench from big man Adonal Arrington, but the Wolves were held to 41 percent shooting, including just 2 of 16 (12.5 percent) from three-point range.
The Seawolves offset their 37-28 rebounding disadvantage by tying their season-low with just seven turnovers. Cooper, UAA's candidate for the Bob Cousy Award as college basketball's top point guard, committed no turnovers in 37 minutes.
Arts, meanwhile, finished with 23 points (9-18 FG, 2-6 3FG, 3-4 FT) and three blocks, never coming out of the game. Olsen was even sharper from the field, scoring 22 points (8-13 FG, 6-8 FT), grabbing six rebounds and doubling his season total with two assists.
WOU forward Travis Kuhns scored 17 points and dished six assists, but the Wolves starters struggled as a group, shooting just 10 of 34. Reserve Mike McLaughlin helped keep the home team close with 12 points (6-8 FG) and seven boards.
The Seawolves led throughout, jumping to a 17-7 lead in the first seven and a half minutes and leading 28-22 at the half. UAA stretched its lead to double digits on seven separate occasions in the second half, but WOU had an answer every time.
A layup by Kuhns at the 13:45 mark cut UAA's advantage to 39-36, however that was as close as it would get. The Wolves had a chance to cut it to one point with 10 seconds left, but Sam Kelly missed a three-pointer and Cooper made two free throws for the final margin.
UAA's 8-game winning streak is its longest since taking nine straight in the 1996-97 season.
The Seawolves wrap up their short road trip Saturday at 6 p.m. AST when they take on Saint Martin's (6-4, 1-0) in Lacey, Wash.
