NAMPA, Idaho – Junior guard Suki Wiggs had 28 points, eight rebounds and six steals to help the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team hold on for a crucial 74-61 victory over Northwest Nazarene at the Johnson Sports Center on Thursday night.

The Seawolves (21-9, 14-5) also got 19 points from senior guard Brian McGill, plus 11 points and 12 rebounds from junior forward Corey Hammell as they retained their hold on second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

The Crusaders (8-17, 4-15) got 22 points from forward Bouna N'Diaye but could never quite recover from a big first-half run by the Seawolves.

Leading 17-15 midway through the half, Wiggs accounted for five points in a 9-0 UAA surge. The GNAC's leading scorer was then fouled twice in the last 10 seconds, putting the Seawolves ahead with more free throws, 34-24, at the break.

UAA forged a 43-28 lead when Spencer Svejcar nailed a three-pointer at the 17:23 mark and threatened to run away with it on several occasions, but the Crusaders kept rallying.

After Marko Lepovic converted a fast-break layup and Detwon Rogers hit two free throws to slice the advantage to 61-57 with 3:52 remaining, McGill, Svejcar and Wiggs answered with five charities to push it back to 66-57. The Seawolves closed it out from the stripe, where they scored their last 14 points.

Wiggs shot 6 of 13 from the field, including 4 of 8 from long range, as he moved up to No. 2 on UAA's single-season scoring list with 713 points. The transfer from Idaho came one shy of tying the Seawolves' single-game record with 21 free throw attempts – making 12 – while his six steals were the most for a UAA player since Kyle Fossman's seven against Northwest Indian on Dec. 15, 2012.

Meanwhile, McGill scored 17 of his points after the break, having sat for the majority of the first half with two fouls. The Oregon native was a perfect 6 of 6 from the field and 6 of 7 at the foul stripe, along with five rebounds and a career-high two blocks.

Hammell delivered his 13th double-double – 7th-most on UAA's single-season list – and Svejcar added 10 points and four rebounds. UAA also got a lift from the bench with three points and two rebounds apiece by Drew Peterson and Brian Pearson.

Still tied with Alaska Fairbanks (20-7, 14-5) for second place and just a game ahead of Seattle Pacific (20-7, 13-6), the Seawolves can secure the No. 2 seed in the upcoming GNAC Tournament with a win in their regular-season finale at Central Washington. UAA will tip against the Wildcats (17-7, 12-7) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, with a live webstream at portal.stretchinternet.com/uaa.