FAIRBANKS - Sophomore guards Travis Thompson and
Kyle Fossman combined for 34 points Thursday to spark No. 20 Alaska Anchorage
to a 79-74 comeback victory over Alaska Fairbanks in Great Northwest Athletic
Conference men's basketball action at the Patty Center.
The Seawolves (21-5, 15-3 GNAC) also got a lift from senior guard Lonnie
Ridgeway, who scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting and added a pair of blocks.
With the victory, the Seawolves clinched no worse than second place outright in
the final GNAC standings, plus the No. 2 seed in next week's GNAC Tournament.
Western Washington beat Seattle Pacific 72-70 in Bellingham earlier Thursday to
claim the No. 1 seed in the GNAC tourney, but the Vikings must still beat MSU
Billings at home on Saturday to avoid sharing the regular-season title with
UAA.
The Nanooks (5-23, 2-16) got a game-high 26 points from sophomore forward
Stefan Tica and saw all five starters score in double figures. The UAF bench
managed just two points, however, as the Seawolves won for the 13th straight
time in the rivalry, including six in a row at the Patty Center.
Just like UAA's 68-62 win back on Dec. 10 in Anchorage, Thursday's game was
hard-fought throughout, featuring seven ties and 16 lead changes.
After the Seawolves jumped to an early 9-0 lead, the Nanooks answered
immediately and went ahead 14-13. UAA scored eight of the last 11 points before
the half to take a 36-35 lead at the break, with Thompson accounting for 13 of
his team-high 18 points in the opening session.
UAA went ahead 47-41 when Colton Lauwers hit his second and third
three-pointers of the night, but that would be the biggest lead for either team
the rest of the game.
Tica made a three-pointer to put the Nanooks up 57-55 at the 8:15 mark, and the
home team seemed to have all the momentum, gaining a 64-58 lead a few minutes
later. Ridgeway answered for UAA with a short jumper and then drew a
three-point play on a layup conversion to keep within striking distance,
though. He then rebounded a Nanook miss and brought the ball down court before
handing off to Thompson for trey that tied it 66-66 with 3:58 to play.
The teams traded three-pointers on the next four possessions, including
back-to-back bombs by Fossman, and Thompson grabbed a defensive rebound to give
UAA the ball with 1:50 left and the score tied 72-72.
After a 30-second timeout, UAA junior guard Marcus Jackson got free inside for
a layup -his only field goal of the game - with 1:27 remaining. Both teams
missed chances on their ensuing possessions and UAF appeared ready to tie it
with a fast-break basket, but Jackson stepped up and took a charge from Tica
with 44 seconds showing.
UAF's Dominique Brinson sliced his team's deficit to 75-74 with a pair of free
throws at the 14-second mark before Fossman drained a pair of free throws
moments later. The Nanooks went to center Sergej Pucar for a game-tying
three-pointer with 5 seconds left, but it bounced off the rim and landed in the
hands of Thompson for his career-high seventh rebound. Thompson sealed it with
two free throws, ending his shooting night 5 of 5 at the stripe and 6 of 9 from
the field.
Fossman finished with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting (2-4 3FGs), while senior
center Taylor Rohde - the GNAC's leading scorer at 20.6 ppg - managed 10
points, five rebounds and a pair of assists.
UAA, No. 2 in the current NCAA Division II West Region rankings, will now wait
two days to find out its possible opponent in the GNAC Tournament semifinals,
set for Mar. 2 in Lacey, Wash. The Seawolves will be the No. 2 seed and face
the winner of Wednesday's 3-vs-6 matchup at 11 a.m. AST on Friday.
NOTES: Senior point guard Steve White had five assists Thursday to push his
career total to 325, tying him for No. 4 on UAA's all-time list with Butch
Lincoln (1992-93, '94-97) ... Rohde moved into a tie for No. 15 on UAA's career
list with his 430th rebound ... UAA has not lost to UAF since a 76-73 decision at
the Patty Center in January 2006.
