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Seawolves survive Nanooks' upset bid, 74-72

Men's Basketball UAA Media Relations

Seawolves survive Nanooks' upset bid, 74-72

ANCHORAGE – Senior guard Travis Thompson had 23 points and seven assists as host Alaska Anchorage survived an upset bid by rival Alaska Fairbanks to post a 74-72 men's basketball victory in front of a record crowd at the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday night.

The Seawolves (13-9, 9-3 GNAC) also got 14 points and four assists from senior guard Derrick Fain but needed to dodge a buzzer-beating three-point attempt by UAF's Ashton Edwards to hang on for their fourth straight win.

With the win and earlier losses by Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene, UAA moves into second place alone in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with six regular-season games remaining. The top six teams in the final standings advance to the GNAC Tournament, Mar. 4-7 in Billings, Mont., with the top two drawing byes.

Led by Edwards' 18 points and five assists, the Nanooks (5-13, 2-10) made it close all night and looked nothing like a team that came into the game with seven consecutive losses. UAF led 11-6 early and trailed 36-35 at halftime when Fain converted a tip-in right before the buzzer.

Thompson scored five quick points to open the second half, helping the Seawolves extend to a 45-36 lead – the largest of the night for either team. UAF came back to grab a 53-52 advantage with 11 minutes left, and Edwards put his team ahead 56-53 with a trey at the 9:58 mark.

UAA's Dom Hunter answered just 16 seconds later with a tying three-pointer, and UAA took the lead for good at 58-56 when senior center Brad Mears stripped the ball from Almir Hadzisehovic under the basket and fed Thompson for a layup.

Despite stretching to a 66-58 advantage with 6:03 remaining, the Seawolves would have to fight off yet another comeback by their rivals, who made it a one-possession game for the final 2:39. Hadzisehovic hit hook shot with 29 seconds left to cut it to 71-70, and Fain swished two free throws with 17 seconds on the clock.

Edwards drove the lane and hit a tough runner from about eight feet with 5.7 seconds left, and the Nanooks fouled Thompson with 4.8 showing. The 85 percent career free-throw shooter made the first but missed the second, and UAF's Eric Fongue grabbed the rebound. Edwards took the pass and raced up the court, launching a 30-foot attempt that bounced off the back of the rim at the horn.

Hazdzisehovic finished with 16 points and eight rebounds for the visitors, while Fongue had 12 points.

Hunter scored 13 points off the bench for UAA, which claimed its 12th consecutive home win in the rivalry. It marked the first-ever meeting between the clubs at the Alaska Airlines Center, drawing a record crowd of 2,128.

Thompson shot 4 of 8 from three-point range and made his first five charities before missing at the end. The former Dimond High star added a pair of steals and did not commit a turnover in 33 minutes as he moved past Carl Arts (1,544 pts, 2004-08) for No. 3 on UAA's career scoring list, now with 1,549 points.

The Seawolves got other contributions from Mears (6 points, 3-4 FG, 2 steals), sophomore forward Travis Parrish (5 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block) and freshman forward Sjur Berg (5 points, 5 rebounds).

UAA stays home next week to host another pair of longtime rivals, Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific. Thursday's tip-off against MSUB is set for 7 p.m.


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Players Mentioned

Travis Thompson

#11 Travis Thompson

G
6' 1"
Freshman
Brad Mears

#44 Brad Mears

F/C
6' 9"
Junior
Sjur Berg

#2 Sjur Berg

F
6' 7"
Freshman
Derrick Fain

#14 Derrick Fain

G
6' 4"
Senior
Dom Hunter

#13 Dom Hunter

G
6' 0"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Travis Thompson

#11 Travis Thompson

6' 1"
Freshman
G
Brad Mears

#44 Brad Mears

6' 9"
Junior
F/C
Sjur Berg

#2 Sjur Berg

6' 7"
Freshman
F
Derrick Fain

#14 Derrick Fain

6' 4"
Senior
G
Dom Hunter

#13 Dom Hunter

6' 0"
Junior
G