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McGill sinks winner, UAA conquers Vikes 62-60

Men's Basketball UAA Media Relations

McGill sinks winner, UAA conquers Vikes 62-60

ANCHORAGE - Junior point guard Brian McGill scored 20 points, including the game-winning basket with 6.5 seconds remaining Saturday to lift Alaska Anchorage to a 62-60 men's basketball victory over Western Washington at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves (7-7, 3-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got a career-high-tying 16 points from junior forward Christian Leckband, who helped propel a second-half comeback for the home team.

The Vikings (7-6, 0-3) got 18 points and five rebounds from reserve guard Joey Schreiber and eight assists from point guard Harris Javier as their eight-game winning streak against UAA finally came to a close.

UAA trailed 19-9 midway through the first half but sliced its deficit to 31-30 when Travis Thompson sank a running floater in the lane to start the second half. After the Vikings pushed their lead back to 43-37, the Seawolves answered with a 7-0 run, taking their first advantage since the opening moments when Boomer Blossom nailed a three-pointer – his only basket of the game – on a feed from McGill.

The teams traded leads until Leckband swished a long three-pointer with 8:39 left and followed with another two and half minutes later to make it 54-50. UAA led 58-53 before Western's Joey Schreiber converted a three-point play and Kyle Impero made a fast-break layup to tie it with 2 minutes left.

McGill's ensuing layup was answered quickly by two free throws from Western's Anye Turner with 1:15 remaining, and UAA committed a turnover as time wound down on the next possession. The Vikings corralled the ball at midcourt but could not capitalize, with Impero's three-pointer missing long. Sjur Berg, a freshman from Norway, went high to grab his career-best 13th rebound on the play, setting up UAA for a final possession.

After two timeouts, McGill made a hard drive from the top of the key and banked in a jump shot from 6 feet away with 6.5 seconds showing. The Vikings declined to use their final timeout and pushed the ball down court, only to see Turner's short jumper bounce off the rim.

McGill shot 6 of 11 from the field and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line, along with five assists, while Leckband shot 6 of 9 overall and 2 of 3 from long range. The Nome native also had five rebounds, one block and a ferocious dunk in transition to spark UAA's comeback.

Thompson finished with 11 points despite a cold-shooting 3-of-14 for the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year. The Dimond High product made history, however, surpassing former teammate Kyle Fossman for the Seawolves' all-time record when he drained his 258th career three-pointer five minutes into the second half.

No other Seawolf scored more than four points, but Berg helped UAA to a 38-31 rebounding advantage.

UAA hits the road for its next three games, starting Saturday, Jan. 10 with a 7 p.m. showdown against Alaska Fairbanks at the Patty Center.

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Players Mentioned

Boomer Blossom

#RS Boomer Blossom

G
6' 2"
Freshman
Kyle Fossman

#24 Kyle Fossman

G
6' 0"
Freshman
Travis Thompson

#11 Travis Thompson

G
6' 1"
Freshman
Christian Leckband

#1 Christian Leckband

F
6' 5"
Freshman
Brian McGill

#RS Brian McGill

G
6' 2"
Sophomore
Sjur Berg

#2 Sjur Berg

F
6' 7"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Boomer Blossom

#RS Boomer Blossom

6' 2"
Freshman
G
Kyle Fossman

#24 Kyle Fossman

6' 0"
Freshman
G
Travis Thompson

#11 Travis Thompson

6' 1"
Freshman
G
Christian Leckband

#1 Christian Leckband

6' 5"
Freshman
F
Brian McGill

#RS Brian McGill

6' 2"
Sophomore
G
Sjur Berg

#2 Sjur Berg

6' 7"
Freshman
F