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Seawolves nip Saints 79-78, reach milestones

Men's Basketball UAA Media Relations

Seawolves nip Saints 79-78, reach milestones

LACEY, Wash. –Junior guard Travis Thompson joined Alaska Anchorage's 1,000-point club in style Saturday, scoring 27 points to lead the Seawolves to a 79-78 victory over Saint Martin's in Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball action at Marcus Pavilion.

The Seawolves (12-8, 5-4 GNAC) also got 13 points and seven assists from sophomore point guard Brian McGill, who scored the final six points for the visitors, including the winning layup with 58 seconds remaining.

Senior guard Kyle Fossman had 17 points and four assists for UAA, and junior swingman Teancum Stafford tallied 14 points to help Rusty Osborne to his program-record 187th victory as head coach.

The Saints (6-11, 3-6) put five players in double figures, paced by 17 points from guard Evan Coulter, but they could not take advantage of a 24-8 run to start the game.

Saint Martin's led 27-12 after less than eight minutes and held a 44-37 lead at halftime after UAA twice cut the deficit to six. Coulter nailed a three-pointer to start the second half before Thompson and junior center Brad Mears combined for a personal 9-0 run to slice it to 47-46. Mears finished with eight points and tied his career high with seven rebounds.

Thompson gave the Seawolves their first lead, 52-51 at the 15:29 mark, on a pair of free throws, and the game stayed close. Isaac Bianchini hit one of his five three-pointers to put the hosts ahead 65-61 with 9:54 left, and Fossman answered right back with a three of his own. The game remained a one-possession affair the rest of the way, featuring nine ties and 13 lead changes.

Fossman's three-pointer with 4 minutes remaining gave UAA a 73-72 lead, and the teams exchanged free throws on their next possessions. SMU center Matt Dodson converted a rebound basket to put his team ahead 76-75, and McGill answered with a driving layup for the Seawolves at the 2:10 mark.

With 1:07 left, Fossman was called for a foul on Coulter, who sank both free throws for a 78-77 advantage. Wasting no time, McGill again slid to the basket, getting a perfect screen from Mears to convert an open layin on the eventual game-winning.

The Saints had two chances to take the lead in the final minute, but Dodson committed a turnover with 44 seconds left and Thompson drew an offensive foul from Coulter with seven seconds remaining. The Saints fouled Stafford with 4.8 seconds showing, however the Auburn, Wash., native missed for free throws off the iron, and SMU's Brad Norman corralled the rebound. The Seawolves pressured the ball well and forced an off-balance attempt from midcourt by Riley Carel, whose desperation shot caromed off the rim at the buzzer.

UAA shot 57 percent from the field and 50 percent (9 of 18) from three-point range. Thompson went 7 of 11 overall, 4 of 7 on threes, and was perfect on nine free throws. The Dimond High School product became the 21th player in program history to reach 1,000 points (1,004), doing it with at least nine games remaining in his junior season.

Meanwhile, Stafford shot 6 of 8 from the floor (2-4 3FGs), Fossman was 7 of 13 (3-5 3FGs) and Mears was 4 of 6 as the Seawolf starters combined for 47 of their team's 49 field-goal attempts.

Now at the midpoint of the GNAC schedule, the Seawolves return to the road next week for games at Simon Fraser (Thur., Jan. 30, 4:15 p.m. AST) and at two-time defending GNAC champion Western Washington (Sat., Feb. 1, 8 p.m. AST). Saturday's WWU game will be featured regionally on ROOT Sports (GCI cable channel 36 in Anchorage) as the GNAC Game of the Week.

NOTES: Former UAA coaching wins leader Charlie Bruns, who now lives just north of Seattle, was in attendance for Saturday's game … Bruns compiled 186 wins between 1991-2004, serving the entire time with Osborne as his assistant … Fossman pushed his career point total to 1,046, passing Adam Fitt-Chappell (1,045 pts, 2002-06) for No. 16 on the program list … with Fossman and Thompson, the Seawolves have two 1,000-point scorers playing on the same team for the first time since Seawolf Hall of Famers Jesse Jackson (1,471) and Hansi Gnad (1,666) were teammates in 1986-87 … with three assists, Thompson also moved into 20th place on UAA's career list with 205.

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Players Mentioned

Kyle Fossman

#24 Kyle Fossman

G
6' 0"
Freshman
Travis Thompson

#11 Travis Thompson

G
6' 1"
Freshman
Brian McGill

#RS Brian McGill

G
6' 2"
Sophomore
Teancum Stafford

#30 Teancum Stafford

G
6' 5"
Sophomore
Brad Mears

#44 Brad Mears

F/C
6' 9"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Kyle Fossman

#24 Kyle Fossman

6' 0"
Freshman
G
Travis Thompson

#11 Travis Thompson

6' 1"
Freshman
G
Brian McGill

#RS Brian McGill

6' 2"
Sophomore
G
Teancum Stafford

#30 Teancum Stafford

6' 5"
Sophomore
G
Brad Mears

#44 Brad Mears

6' 9"
Junior
F/C