SPU stuns UAA men with buzzer-beater

SEATTLE ? Casey Reed banked in a desperation three-pointer from 30 feet away on the left wing Thursday to propel Seattle Pacific to a 68-66 men's basketball victory over Alaska Anchorage at Royal Brougham Pavilion.

The Seawolves (12-12, 6-5 GNAC) got a career-high 24 points from sophomore guard Lonnie Ridgeway, but were hurt badly by poor free-throw shooting in the final moments.

The Falcons (16-7, 9-3), ranked No. 7 in the West Region, were led by 17 points from center Rafael Moreira and 16 points from Reed, who shot 6 of 7 from the field.

UAA led 66-59 when Ridgeway scored his final basket on an aggressive drive to the hoop with 1:33 remaining.

But SPU's Chris Banchero would nail a three-pointer, then convert one of two free throws a few moments later.

With the score still 66-63, Ridgeway missed the front end of a one-and-one with 14 seconds left. The Seawolves then purposely fouled Banchero with 3.9 seconds on the clock to prevent a possible game-tying three-pointer.

Banchero sank both charities, and the Falcons fouled Kenny Barker ? UAA's leading free-throw shooter at 86 percent. The senior guard missed on his first shot, however, and SPU's Chauncey Campanaro grabbed the rebound and dished to Reed for his game-winning trey.

The result prevented UAA from earning its first season sweep of the Falcons since 1989-90, failing to follow up on a 66-62 win 12 days ago in Anchorage.

Ridgeway shot 10 of 14 from the field (2-2 3FG) and also grabbed a career-best nine rebounds, while Barker contributed 19 points, five rebounds and a career-best eight assists.

Senior center Jeremiah Trueman also reached double figures with 14 points (5-9 FG, 4-4 FT), plus seven rebounds and a career-best four steals.

The Seawolves shot quality percentages of .542 overall and .538 from three-point range, but the second-leading free-throw percentage team in NCAA Div. II finished only .583 (7 of 12) from the stripe.

UAA faces another tough road test Saturday when it travels north to test league-leading Western Washington at 6 p.m. AST.

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Players Mentioned

#RS Lonnie Ridgeway: G; 6' 3"; Freshman

#RS Kenny Barker: G; 6' 3"; Senior

#25 Jeremiah Trueman: F; 6' 9"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#RS Lonnie Ridgeway
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: G

#RS Kenny Barker
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

#25 Jeremiah Trueman
: 6' 9"; Junior
: F

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

#RS Lonnie Ridgeway

#RS Kenny Barker

#25 Jeremiah Trueman

Players Mentioned

#RS Lonnie Ridgeway

#RS Kenny Barker

#25 Jeremiah Trueman