ANCHORAGE – Hot-shooting Central Washington defeated Alaska Anchorage 95-88 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game here Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex. UAA slips to 10-8 overall and 3-4 in GNAC play while CWU improves to 8-7 and 4-3.

The Wildcats hit a sizzling 60 percent from the field and were led by a tandem of 6-6 seniors - JB Pillard (23 points) and Mark McLaughlin – the No. 2 scorer in the nation - with 22. Pillard also collected a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Seawolves were led by Travis Thompson with 22 points and Brian McGill with 20. Teancum Stafford and Colton Lauwers added 12 points apiece. Stafford had a team-high 11 rebounds.

UAA, which trailed by as many as 11 in the first half, pulled to within one, 45-44, at halftime. And the Seawolves led briefly, 47-45, on a Thompson old fashioned three-point play just 22 seconds into the second half.

The Wildcats used their height advantage and shooting touch to quickly regain the lead, pushing it to nine (71-62) with 11:29 to go. UAA made numerous runs, including closing to within two (75-73) on a McGill three-pointer with 6:56 left and then to three (87-84) on a Thompson free throw with just 47 seconds remaining.

But the Seawolves were never able to get completely over the hump.

“We shot it better tonight, but our defense and rebounding let us down,” said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne. “We didn't block out well and it killed us in the end.”

Central outrebounded UAA, 36-31. The victory was the second straight for the Wildcats in the series between the two teams, which UAA leads, 16-15.

The Seawolves hit the road next week to take on Western Oregon on Thursday (Jan. 23) and Saint Martin's on Saturday (Jan. 25).