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'Wolves, Rohde garner preseason attention

Men's Basketball UAA Media Relations

Men fend off Crusaders, win 3rd straight

ANCHORAGE – Taylor Rohde and Casey Robinson scored 14 points apiece Thursday as the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball held off a strong challenge from Northwest Nazarene to earn a 73-63 victory at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

The Seawolves (16-4, 8-1 GNAC) also got 13 points and seven rebounds from senior guard Brandon Walker, who moved past 1,000 points in his three-year career.

The Crusaders (8-9, 4-6) were led by a game-high 15 points from senior guard Drew Eisinger, plus 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting from his brother, junior point guard Jamie Eisinger.

UAA, ranked No. 4 in the initial NCAA Div. II West Region poll, used 61 percent shooting (17 of 28) in the second half to win its third straight and for the 15th time in 16 games. The Seawolves also earned their first season sweep of the Crusaders since 2007-08.

UAA shot only 27 percent (7 of 26) in the first half but got a lift from a pair of reserves as freshman guard Travis Thompson nailed two three-pointers and sophomore center Liam Gibcus had four points, two rebounds and a steal to stake the home team to a 25-20 lead.

The Seawolves could not stretch their advantage any further in the early stages of the second half and saw the Crusaders take a 44-43 lead on Brian Barkdoll's layin at the 11:37 mark. Casey Robinson knocked down one of his three three-pointers on the next possession before NNU's Darious Walker answered with a dunk, tying the game for the ninth and final time.

Rohde was responsible for the next five points, scoring on a putback, a free throw and a spin move in the lane to make it 51-46. The 6-9 junior from Phoenix shot 6 of 13 from the field and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds as he scored in double digits for the 14th straight game.

The visitors from Nampa, Idaho, would slice their deficit to 57-55 at the 4:52 mark but Brandon Walker responded with a step-back trey, and Casey Robinson delivered a clinching three-pointer on a feed from point guard Drew Robinson with just 70 seconds remaining, beating the shot clock from straightaway.

The game stayed within single digits for the first 39 minutes before the Seawolves pulled away late from the charity stripe. UAA finished 19 of 26 on free throws while NNU converted on just 6 of 11 at the line. The Crusaders were a solid 50 percent from long range but could only manage 10 attempts against UAA's league-leading defense.

Junior guard Mario Gill scored all eight of his points after halftime for UAA, and Drew Robinson delivered seven points and five assists. Thompson, last year's Alaska 4A Player of the Year at Dimond High, finished with 10 points (3-4 FG, 2-3 3FG, 2-2 FT) to reach double figures for the fifth time in his young career.

UAA's victory sets up a showdown for first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference when the Seawolves host nationally 14th- and regionally 2nd-ranked Central Washington (16-2. 9-1) on Saturday at the WFSC. The Seawolves will be without reserve guard Lonnie Ridgeway, however, as the junior guard suffered a concussion in the first half Thursday. UAA handed CWU its only league defeat with a 98-93, double-overtime decision Dec. 30 in Ellensburg.

NOTES: Walker became the 18th Seawolf men's player to hit the 1,000-point mark and passed Dale Bartley (1,005 pts, 1985-88) for No. 17 on the career scoring list with 1,007 … Walker needs just two more rebounds to become the 10th Seawolf to accumulate 1,000 points and 400 rebounds in his career … Rohde, who entered shooting 62.6 percent for the season, failed to hit at least 50 percent of his field goals for the first time since going 2 of 7 in UAA's Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout win over Ball State on Nov. 27 – ending a stretch of 13 straight games at .500 or better … the Seawolves won the battle of the boards 31-27 as they improved to 15-1 when outrebounding their opponent this year.

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Players Mentioned

Casey Robinson

Casey Robinson

THR
Junior
Lonnie Ridgeway

#RS Lonnie Ridgeway

G
6' 3"
Freshman
Casey Robinson

#44 Casey Robinson

F
6' 6"
Junior
Brandon Walker

#22 Brandon Walker

G
6' 3"
Sophomore
Liam Gibcus

#32 Liam Gibcus

F/C
6' 10"
Freshman
Drew Robinson

#11 Drew Robinson

G
6' 1"
Junior
Mario Gill

#2 Mario Gill

G
6' 2"
Junior
Taylor Rohde

#34 Taylor Rohde

F/C
6' 9"
Junior
Travis Thompson

#11 Travis Thompson

G
6' 1"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Casey Robinson

Casey Robinson

Junior
THR
Lonnie Ridgeway

#RS Lonnie Ridgeway

6' 3"
Freshman
G
Casey Robinson

#44 Casey Robinson

6' 6"
Junior
F
Brandon Walker

#22 Brandon Walker

6' 3"
Sophomore
G
Liam Gibcus

#32 Liam Gibcus

6' 10"
Freshman
F/C
Drew Robinson

#11 Drew Robinson

6' 1"
Junior
G
Mario Gill

#2 Mario Gill

6' 2"
Junior
G
Taylor Rohde

#34 Taylor Rohde

6' 9"
Junior
F/C
Travis Thompson

#11 Travis Thompson

6' 1"
Freshman
G