Scoreboard

Vikings outscore Seawolves in wild affair

Men's Basketball UAA Media Relations

Walker's 40 carries UAA to victory at WOU

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Brandon Walker scored a career-high 40 points in a record-setting performance Saturday to lead the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team to a critical 88-83 victory over Western Oregon at the New P.E. Building.

The Seawolves (19-8, 11-5 GNAC) also got 16 points apiece from juniors Mario Gill and Taylor Rohde as they moved back into a tie for second place with Western Washington in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings and clinched a first-round home game for the inaugural GNAC Tournament, which begins Feb. 28.

The Wolves (13-13, 8-8) were led by 34 points and five assists from guard Blair Wheadon, who hit 6 of 8 three-pointers, plus 19 points and 12 rebounds from center Kolton Nelson.

UAA – ranked No. 7 in the latest NCAA Div. II West Region poll – pulled out the win despite trailing by nine early in the second half as Walker scored 24 points in the final 15 minutes. The senior swingman from Hayward, Calif., posted the sixth 40-point game in program history and became just the fourth Seawolf to accomplish the feat, joining Jesse Jackson (three times), Jason Kaiser and Peter Bullock. Bullock was the last player to hit 40, doing it in a Jan. 26, 2002 home win over Northwest Nazarene.

Walker did most of his damage from beyond the arc, hitting 10 of 15 three-pointers and 14 of 22 overall. The 10 treys tied a GNAC record held by two other players and broke the UAA record of nine, accomplished four times by two different players. Walker also had 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season, plus two assists and two steals.

WOU led by six at halftime and took a 40-31 lead on a traditional three-point play by Wheadon to open the second stanza. But Rohde scored UAA's next eight points and Gill tallied six consecutive points to pull the Seawolves within 46-45 at the 15:54 mark.

Walker then connected on back-to-back threes to put UAA ahead 51-47, and the lead grew to 56-51 on another Walker trey with 12:55 to go. WOU would not go away, however, and retook the lead, 69-68, on a layup by Kyle Long with 6 minutes left.

UAA answered back quickly when point guard Drew Robinson slithered through lane for a layup to put the Seawolves ahead for good, and the lead grew to 81-74 on Walker's three-pointer at the 2:09 mark.

The Wolves crept within 83-80 with under a minute left but could not earn a chance to tie as Walker capped his evening with a straightaway, bank-in three with 26 seconds remaining. WOU's Jordan Freelander sank a trey on the other end before Robinson provided the final margin with a pair of free throws.

WOU lost despite outshooting UAA 56.5 percent (13 of 23) to 32.4 percent (12 of 37) from three-point range, with those numbers offset by the Seawolves' 44-36 rebounding advantage. UAA grabbed 26 offensive rebounds, converting those into 35 second-chance points. Walker had seven offensive boards, while Rohde snagged five.

Senior forward Casey Robinson scored all six of his points in the second half and finished with nine rebounds (6 offensive), two assists and no turnovers.

The Seawolves end the regular season with an away-and-home series against Alaska Fairbanks next week, meeting the Nanooks on Tuesday (7 p.m.) in Fairbanks and Wednesday (6:30 p.m.) in Anchorage. Wednesday's game is UAA's 'Senior Night' and will be broadcast live regionally on Fox Sports Northwest.

UAA's first-round GNAC Tournament game will be held Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. against an opponent to be determined.

NOTES: Walker's 10 three-pointers tied the GNAC record set previously by Humboldt State's Issac Gildea (Feb. 21, 2002 vs. Saint Martin's) and Western Washington's Derrick Webb (Jan. 28, 2010 vs Western Oregon) … the previous UAA record of nine three-pointers was held by Mark Drake (Jan. 10, 2002 vs WOU; Feb. 26, 2002 at WOU; Jan. 11, 2003 vs Saint Martin's) and Ron Fischer (Feb. 1, 1990 vs Metro State) … Walker's performance lifted him from 15th into 11th place on UAA's career scoring list with 1,123 points, passing Michael Johnson (1,085, 1987-89), Vern Robateau (1,095, 1985-90) and Jeff Martin (1,109, 1982-84) … Walker needs 13 more points to catch Kemmy Burgess (1,136, 2003-06) for the No. 10 spot.
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Casey Robinson

#44 Casey Robinson

F
6' 6"
Junior
Brandon Walker

#22 Brandon Walker

G
6' 3"
Sophomore
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

Players Mentioned

Casey Robinson

#44 Casey Robinson

6' 6"
Junior
F
Brandon Walker

#22 Brandon Walker

6' 3"
Sophomore
G
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