BELLINGHAM, Wash. ? Carl Arts scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half and grabbed 11 rebounds Thursday as the 4th-ranked Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team earned an 81-69 comeback victory over Western Washington at Carver Gymnasium.
UAA (20-3, 11-0 GNAC) got double-figure scoring from all five starters, shooting a blazing 72 percent in the second half, to run its school- and Great Northwest Athletic Conference-record winning streak to 18 games.
WWU (12-9, 5-7) was led by 20 points from league-leading scorer Ira Graham, plus 14 points and 13 rebounds from forward Calin Schell, but it wasn't enough as the Vikings lost for the fifth time in seven outings.
The Seawolves began the game in a funk, going a 6-minute stretch without a field goal to fall behind 16-5. UAA managed to draw within 31-26 at halftime, shooting just 10 of 30 in the opening stanza.
The Vikings looked sharp to start the second half, going up 39-31 on a Schell jumper with 17:26 left. UAA would score on eight of its next nine possessions, however, as the Seawolves put together a game-deciding 20-5 run.
Chris Bryant (13 points, 2-4 3FG, 5-6 FT) sank a pair of free throws to put UAA up 67-56 with 4:11 remaining, and the Vikings would get no closer than five the rest of the way.
In addition to Arts, UAA's other All-America candidate had another big night as well. Senior point guard Luke Cooper dished 10 assists and scored 10 points in 40 minutes as he moved into No. 10 on the NCAA Div. II all-time assists list with 764. The Aussie, who recorded his fourth double-double this year, is now just five assists shy of ninth place and 10 out of the eighth spot.
A candidate for the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top collegiate point guard, Cooper nailed 4 of 5 shots Thursday and grabbed a game-high three steals.
Senior center McCade Olsen had 16 points (5-8 FG, 2-2 3FG, 4-5 FT) for the Seawolves, while junior forward Cameron Burney had 11 points (4-4 FT). Junior center Jeremiah Trueman had eight points (3-6 FG, 2-2 FT) and five rebounds ? all in the first half ? to keep the Seawolves within striking distance.
It was UAA's fifth straight win over WWU, including its first-ever back-to-back victories in Bellingham.
The Seawolves, now winners of a school-record nine straight on the road, travel Saturday to Ellensburg, Wash., where they will take on the GNAC's second-place team, Central Washington (15-6, 9-3). That game tips at 6 p.m. AST.
