ANCHORAGE – Teancum Stafford's three-pointer from the deep left corner with 1:03 left proved to be the dagger as Alaska Anchorage roared back from a 16-point first-half deficit to defeat Northwest Nazarene, 92-83, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex Thursday night.
Travis Thompson poured in a game-high 34 points to lead the Seawolves, which improved to 10-7 overall and 3-3 in GNAC play. Brian McGill had 19 and Stafford 13 along with a career-high 14 rebounds.
Despite a sub-par shooting night, UAA senior guard Kyle Fossman scored nine points and eclipsed the 1,000-point mark (1,007 and counting). Meanwhile 10th-year UAA head coach Rusty Osborne registered his 185th career win, moving him to within one of UAA' all-time winningest men's basketball coach Charlie Bruns (186-117, 1995-2004).
NNU, which slipped to 5-9 overall and 3-3 in the GNAC, was led by Kevin Rima (23 points) and Derek Isaak (21).
The Crusaders got out of the blocks quickly, jumping to an immediate 7-0 lead and led by as many as 16 (31-15) at the 8:38 mark of the first half.
Thanks in large part to Thompson's 20 first-half points, including 12-for-13 from the free throw line, UAA was able to slice that lead to seven with 34 seconds left. Derek Isaak's long-range three with :01 left gave NNU its 10-point halftime margin.
The Seawolves came out in the second half and used a strong defensive effort and improved shooting to pull even at 61-all on a Thompson three-pointer at 14:21. NNU briefly regained the lead at 65-54 at 12:26, but UAA went on a tear, opening up a 10-point advantage (75-65) on a Stafford layp at 8:23.
The Crusaders, who wound up with four players in double-figure scoring, wouldn't go away and cut the lead to three at 79-76 on an Isaak three with 5:57 left. But UAA salted things away down the stretch, capped off by Stafford's three at 1:03 left on a nifty feed from McGill.
“Our defense was key in the second half – we held them down for awhile and were able to grind it out,” said head coach Osborne. “Brad Mears really came out and gave us a spark and Teancum was really good for us down the stretch. Obviously Travis and Brian were very big for us. It was just a good team win.”
Though UAA had an inauspicious shooting night (37 percent), the Seawolves outrebounded the taller Crusaders, 43-41, and UAA committed just four turnovers on the night.
UAA will host Central Washington (7-7, 3-3) on Saturday at 7 p.m. CWU fell 84-80 to UAF in Fairbanks Thursday night.
Notes: Travis Thompson eclipsed the 30-point mark for a game for the fourth time on the season…The 39 3-pters attempted on the night by UAA was fourth most in program history and most ever against an NCAA II opponent.
