Scoreboard

Suki Wiggs vs WOU

Men's Basketball UAA Media Relations

#1 Wolves rally past Seawolves, 64-58

ANCHORAGE – Alaska Anchorage guard Suki Wiggs scored a game-high 22 points, but it wasn't enough Saturday to fight off a late charge by the nation's top-ranked team as Western Oregon prevailed with a 64-58 victory to clinch the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season title.

Senior guard Brian McGill added 15 points and six assists in his final home game for UAA (20-9, 13-5) at the Alaska Airlines Center.

WOU (22-3, 16-2) was led by 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists from guard Julian Nichols, who helped secure the win with 4-of-4 free-throw shooting in the final 30 seconds. Guard Devon Alexander added 14 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:39 remaining.

After falling in an early 8-0 hole, the Seawolves fought back to take their first edge at 17-16 on two McGill free throws at the 4:25 mark – the first of 16 lead changes.

The Seawolves took a 26-23 advantage into the locker room, and the score stayed within five points for all but 27 seconds of the second half. That occurred when Seawolf forward Corey Hammell gave the hosts a 48-42 lead with a free throw at the 8:28 mark.

The teams traded buckets for the next six minutes, with McGill making it a 56-52 lead on his 15-foot jumper with 2:37 remaining. The Wolves answered with a three-pointer from Jordan Willey just 19 seconds later, however, and Alexander drained his critical trey on the visitors' next possession.

After both teams missed opportunities on offense, Wiggs had a chance to give UAA the lead, but his driving layup bounced off the rim with 39 seconds remaining. Nichols grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Wiggs for just the Seawolves' fourth team foul. After UAA gave up three quick fouls to get its opponent into the bonus, Nichols calmly swished two free throws for a 60-56 edge with 23 seconds left.

Hammell put back a Wiggs miss to slice it to 60-58 with 13 second left, only to be answered with to more clutch charities by Nichols. McGill's layup was blocked and a three-pointer by Drew Peterson was off target, leading to two more WOU free throws to end the scoring.

Hammell finished with 11 points and eight rebounds in the loss.

Had the NCAA Tournament started this week, Saturday's game would have been a preview of the West Regional first round, with UAA coming in No. 8 and WOU at No. 1 in the regional poll. The updated rankings will be released next Wednesday.

The loss knocks UAA into a second-place tie with Alaska Fairbanks in the GNAC standings, although the Seawolves own the tiebreaker thanks to their season sweep of the Nanooks. Both teams have two games left in the regular season, facing common opponents Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington on the road next week.

The top two teams in the final league standings get a quarterfinal bye for the GNAC Tournament, set for Mar. 3-5 in Lacey, Wash.



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Players Mentioned

Brian McGill

#RS Brian McGill

G
6' 2"
Sophomore
Corey Hammell

#25 Corey Hammell

F
6' 6"
Junior
Drew Peterson

#21 Drew Peterson

G/F
6' 3"
Junior
Sekou

#2 Sekou 'Suki' Wiggs

G
6' 4"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Brian McGill

#RS Brian McGill

6' 2"
Sophomore
G
Corey Hammell

#25 Corey Hammell

6' 6"
Junior
F
Drew Peterson

#21 Drew Peterson

6' 3"
Junior
G/F
Sekou

#2 Sekou 'Suki' Wiggs

6' 4"
Junior
G