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Wildcats outlast Seawolves in OT, 88-81

Men's Basketball UAA Media Relations

Wildcats outlast Seawolves in OT, 88-81

ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Junior guard Suki Wiggs scored a career-high 37 points but it was not enough Saturday as the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team suffered an 88-81 overtime loss against Central Washington in the regular-season finale at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Seawolves (21-10, 14-6 GNAC) also got 10 points and 12 rebounds from junior forward Corey Hammell help erase an early 14-point deficit. The setback knocks UAA into the No. 3 seed for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament and means the Seawolves will face No. 6 seed Western Washington in the first quarterfinal game, Thursday, Mar. 3 at 11 a.m. AST.

The Wildcats (18-7, 13-7) were led by 26 points and five blocks from senior center Joseph Stroud, who shot 12 of 16 from the field and added six rebounds. Central – which will face Seattle Pacific in the other quarterfinal contest – also took advantage of 11 assists from guard Devin Matthews.

UAA faced an early 21-7 deficit before freshman guard Damien Fulp provided a lift off the bench, helping end the first half on a 14-6 surge over the final nine minutes. Fulp's putback basket made it a 31-26 score at halftime, and the Seawolves opened the scoring on a Tayler Thompson layup after the break.

After Central stretched its lead back to 42-30, the Seawolves answered with their biggest run of the night and took a 48-45 lead on four straight free throws by Hammell.

The Wildcats got consecutive three-pointers by guard Naim Ladd to go up 63-55 with 6:30 left before the Seawolves called timeout and rallied behind the play of Wiggs. The GNAC's leading scorer sank a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 67-65 with 4:17 remaining, and he drained another to forge a 72-72 tie at the 1:48 mark.

Wiggs hit two free throws to give the Seawolves a 74-72 edge, only to be answered by a Desmond Ross putback on the other end. Both teams committed turnovers on their ensuing possessions, and Wiggs missed a straight-away three-pointer at the end of regulation.

The Wildcats opened with the first five points of the extra session and never trailed again, although Wiggs made it an 81-79 score with his final trey at the 1:41 mark. Needing a stop, the Seawolves played inspired defense on the next possession, but Matthews hit a fade-away three-pointer with a hand in his face as the shot clock expired.

Fulp missed a three-pointer on the other end and the Wildcats got the clinching bucket to make it 86-79 on Matthews's layup with 24 seconds left.

Wiggs scored 28 points in the second half as he tied UAA's 33-year-old single-game record with 17 free throws made – doing it in just 18 attempts. He added six rebounds and shot 6 of 12 from the three-point arc.

Hammell's double-double was his 14th of the season, moving him into seventh place on UAA's career list. He shot 8 of 8 from the foul stripe, helping UAA shoot a season-best .909 (30 of 33) as a team.

Senior guard Brian McGill finished with 13 points as the Seawolves' second-leading scorer battled foul trouble, while junior guard Spencer Svejcar had 11 points, three assists and six rebounds.

Fulp had eight points and five rebounds as the former Colony High star delivered his most productive outing in a conference game.

The UAA-WWU game and the entire GNAC Tournament can be seen for free at portal.stretchinternet.com/gnac.

NOTES: Wiggs's 17 free throws tied the school record set by Jeff Martin, who made 17 of 18 against Fordham on Nov. 27, 1983 … the 37 points tied Wiggs for No. 13 on UAA's single-game list and pulled him within 63 of Jesse Jackson's single-season record of 813 points in 1986-87 … Wiggs joined Jackson, Martin, Jason Kaiser, Travis Thompson and Peter Bullock as the only Seawolves with at least six 30-point outings … McGill moved up two spots to No. 11 on UAA's career scoring list, with his 1,177 points surpassing Chris Hamey (1,168, 1995-2000) and Mark Drake (1,173, 2001-05).


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Players Mentioned

Travis Thompson

#11 Travis Thompson

G
6' 1"
Freshman
Brian McGill

#RS Brian McGill

G
6' 2"
Sophomore
Damien Fulp

#RS Damien Fulp

G
6' 1"
Freshman
Corey Hammell

#25 Corey Hammell

F
6' 6"
Junior
Spencer Svejcar

#20 Spencer Svejcar

G
6' 4"
Junior
Tayler Thompson

#24 Tayler Thompson

F
6' 8"
Junior
Sekou

#2 Sekou 'Suki' Wiggs

G
6' 4"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Travis Thompson

#11 Travis Thompson

6' 1"
Freshman
G
Brian McGill

#RS Brian McGill

6' 2"
Sophomore
G
Damien Fulp

#RS Damien Fulp

6' 1"
Freshman
G
Corey Hammell

#25 Corey Hammell

6' 6"
Junior
F
Spencer Svejcar

#20 Spencer Svejcar

6' 4"
Junior
G
Tayler Thompson

#24 Tayler Thompson

6' 8"
Junior
F
Sekou

#2 Sekou 'Suki' Wiggs

6' 4"
Junior
G