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Seawolves fend off Saints, 74-71

Men's Basketball UAA Media Relations

Seawolves fend off Saints, 74-71

ANCHORAGE – Colton Lauwers scored 15 points and fellow junior guard Mike MacKelvie delivered a big second half off the bench Saturday to help Alaska Anchorage hang on for a 74-71 men's basketball victory over Saint Martin's at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

The Seawolves improved to 10-4 and evened their Great Northwest Athletic Conference record at 3-3 as they erased a seven-point, second-half deficit against the visitors from Lacey, Wash.

The Saints (5-8, 1-4) got 18 points and seven rebounds from senior forward Roger O'Neill, while senior reserve guard Eric Taylor kept SMU close with several big shots in the late-going and finished with 17 points.

UAA, which got at least seven points from seven different players, led 39-32 at halftime after senior forward Abebe Demissie scored all 10 of his points in the opening stanza.

O'Neill banked in a three-pointer to start the second half, though, and the Saints forged a 48-41 lead on Evan Coulter's layup at the 13:45 mark.

Sophomore forward Christian Leckband answered with one of his three three-pointers to start a 9-2 spurt for UAA, tying it 50-50 with 11:31 remaining, and the game would stay within one possession for the next six minutes.

Lauwers, who nailed 4 of 5 threes, gave UAA a 64-60 with a high-arcing trey, then got fouled on a three-pointer at the 3:40 mark. The Dimond High product made all three free throws to make it 69-62, but the Saints would not go away.

Seawolf center Liam Gibcus twice put UAA up by five points in the final two minutes with a pair of soft layups before Taylor nailed a three-pointer with 50 seconds left, making it 73-71.

MacKelvie, who scored all 12 of his points after halftime, was fouled on a jumper with 18 seconds to go and made one of two at the line, leaving a final chance for SMU. UAA's tight defense forced the Saints to waste 14 seconds before O'Neill missed a jumper, and the ball went out of bounds with three-tenths of a second on the clock.

The Saints were able to inbound for a clean look by point guard Brady Bomber, whose 25-foot attempt went wide right.

Both teams made 26 field goals, but UAA nailed 13 treys to SMU's six. The Seawolves also won the rebounding battle 37-29.

UAA earned the win despite a rough shooting night from leading scorer Kyle Fossman, who had eight points on uncharacteristic 3-of-18 marksmanship. The junior from Haines did plenty of other things to help his team, however, as his eight rebounds and six assists were both one shy of matching career-highs. He also had three of UAA's five steals.

Demissie grabbed seven rebounds, while freshman point guard Jalen Little dished four assists.

The Seawolves return to the road next week when they travel north to face Alaska Fairbanks in a 7:30 p.m. AST tip on Saturday, Jan. 19 at the Patty Center.

NOTES: UAA won its fourth straight over SMU and improved to 17-1 all-time against the Saints in Anchorage … Fossman made two three-pointers to move into 14th place on UAA's treys list, now with 122 … Gibcus earned his 71st career victory in a Seawolf uniform, matching Jim Hajdukovich (1995-99) and Chris Hamey (1995-2000) for seventh place on the program's all-time list.

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Players Mentioned

Liam Gibcus

#32 Liam Gibcus

F/C
6' 10"
Freshman
Kyle Fossman

#24 Kyle Fossman

G
6' 0"
Freshman
Abebe Demissie

#24 Abebe Demissie

F
6' 6"
Junior
Colton Lauwers

#23 Colton Lauwers

G
6' 3"
Sophomore
Christian Leckband

#1 Christian Leckband

F
6' 5"
Freshman
Jalen Little

#20 Jalen Little

G
5' 10"
Freshman
Mike MacKelvie

#3 Mike MacKelvie

G
6' 4"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Liam Gibcus

#32 Liam Gibcus

6' 10"
Freshman
F/C
Kyle Fossman

#24 Kyle Fossman

6' 0"
Freshman
G
Abebe Demissie

#24 Abebe Demissie

6' 6"
Junior
F
Colton Lauwers

#23 Colton Lauwers

6' 3"
Sophomore
G
Christian Leckband

#1 Christian Leckband

6' 5"
Freshman
F
Jalen Little

#20 Jalen Little

5' 10"
Freshman
G
Mike MacKelvie

#3 Mike MacKelvie

6' 4"
Junior
G