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Men shut down Saints in GNAC tourney

Men's Basketball UAA Media Relations

Men shut down Saints in GNAC tourney

ANCHORAGE – Taylor Rohde scored 22 points and fellow junior Mario Gill delivered his first career double-double Monday to lift Alaska Anchorage to an 80-70 win over Saint Martin's in the quarterfinals of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championships at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

Second-seeded UAA (22-8) got 18 points and 11 rebounds from Gill, who nailed 6 of 7 three-pointers, as it advanced to the semifinals against 3rd-seeded Seattle Pacific. The Seawolves will host the Falcons at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the WFSC, with the winner earning a spot in the inaugural GNAC tourney title game on Friday.

The 7th-seeded Saints (14-15) were led by 24 points, five rebounds and four assists from GNAC Player of the Year Blake Poole, however the visitors from Lacey, Wash., were outrebounded 35-21 and outshot 56 percent to 42 percent from the field. Poole, a 6-5 senior center, shot 13 of 14 at the free-throw line, while guard Galen Squiers had 14 points on 4-of-11 three-point shooting.

After beating UAA 60-54 in Lacey 11 days ago, the Saints came out of the gates with a 17-14 lead in the first 10 minutes of Monday's game. But freshman guard Travis Thompson drove the lane and converted a traditional three-point play to start an 18-5 surge for the Seawolves, who would not trail again.

SMU crept within four points twice in the early going of the second half before UAA slowly pulled away. Senior guard Brandon Walker earned the Seawolves a 55-45 advantage on a three-pointer at the 12:23 mark and nailed another trey with 4:04 left to make it 70-54. The Saints got within nine twice in the final two minutes but could get no closer.

Walker tallied 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, along with four rebounds and three assists, while Thompson scored 10 points on near-perfect shooting (2-3 FG, 5-5 FT). Meanwhile, Rohde, UAA's First Team All-GNAC center, was his usual efficient self, shooting 9 of 11 from the field and 4 of 5 at the charity stripe.

The Seawolves' point-guard combo of Drew Robinson and Steve White totaled 14 assists with just four turnovers as UAA overcame the loss of starting forward Casey Robinson , who missed his first game in two seasons with an ankle injury.

In addition to determining who advances to Friday's title game, the Seawolves and Falcons will be battling for NCAA Tournament position when they meet Wednesday. UAA is currently ranked No. 7 in the latest West Region poll, while SPU is No. 8. The teams split their regular-season series with UAA winning 78-61 on Jan. 8 in Anchorage and SPU winning 78-73 on Feb. 3 in Seattle.

NOTES: Walker from 10th to eighth place on UAA's all-time scoring list, now with 1,174 points, passing Chris Hamey (1,168, 1995-00) and Mark Drake (1,173, 2001-05) … with the win, Rusty Osborne tied former mentor Harry Larrabee (1981-86, '91-93) for the second-most coaching victories in program history with 132 ... Thompson scored double digits for the second straight game and the eighth time this season … UAA is now 15-1 all-time against SMU in Anchorage.
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Players Mentioned

Casey Robinson

#44 Casey Robinson

F
6' 6"
Junior
Brandon Walker

#22 Brandon Walker

G
6' 3"
Sophomore
Steve White

#14 Steve White

G
6' 0"
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

#44 Casey Robinson

6' 6"
Junior
F
Brandon Walker

#22 Brandon Walker

6' 3"
Sophomore
G
Steve White

#14 Steve White

6' 0"
Freshman
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
Travis Thompson

#11 Travis Thompson

6' 1"
Freshman
G