BURNABY, British Columbia – Junior center Brian Pearson had 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocks Saturday, and junior guard Malik Clements drained the game-winning jumper with 37 seconds remaining to lift Alaska Anchorage to a critical 66-64 men's basketball victory over Simon Fraser at the SFU West Gymnasium.

The Seawolves (13-13, 9-9 GNAC) got 14 points from Clements, plus 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists from senior wing D.J. Ursery, as they took sole possession of sixth place – and the inside track on the final GNAC Tournament berth – in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings.

The Clan (10-16, 4-14) got a game-high 19 points from guard Othniel Spence, but the NCAA's lone Canadian program could not complete its comeback, falling to 0-19 all-time against the Seawolves, including 0-9 at home.

“We got off to a great start in for the third time in four games, and we did just enough to hold on for a important win,” said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne, whose team has two regular-season games remaining, including Tuesday (7 p.m.) at seventh-place Alaska Fairbanks. “Brian Pearson was absolutely enormous for us on both ends of the court. He was poised and confident all night – I can't say enough about how proud I am of his improvement this year. But more importantly, this was a great team victory, with some unsung performance up and down our lineup.”

UAA jumped on the hosts early with the first 13 points, including a pair of baskets by senior guard Drew Peterson. Peterson canned a three-pointer midway through the first half for the largest advantage of the night at 26-10, and UAA led 35-20 before SFU closed the half on a 12-2 run.

It remained a single-digit lead for the Seawolves throughout the second half, until Spence drained a trey for a 53-53 tie with 5:53 on the clock. A Pearson jumper stretched UAA's lead back to 61-56 with 3:23 remaining, and the Elko, Nev., native converted a tip-in for a 63-60 edge with 1:01 left.

After Spence tied it on a corner three-pointer with 50 seconds showing, Peterson found Clements in the lane, and the North Dakota State transfer converted a turnaround jump shot from eight feet that touched every inch of the rim before falling through.

Spence missed a potential game-tying layup on the other end when Pearson's shot-blocking presence changed his trajectory, and Ursery was fouled on the rebound with 13 seconds left.

After Ursery made one of two free throws, Clan guard Michael Provenzano missed a three-pointer, but teammate Tyrell Lewin grabbed the board and was fouled with three-tenths of a second showing. Lewin made the first and missed the second purposefully, but his air ball resulted in an inadvertent whistle, and the Clan were awarded possession on their own baseline, with no time off the clock.

Provenzano was credited with a three-point attempt at the buzzer, but his desperate heave did not come close.

Peterson finished with 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting and three assists, while junior forward Josiah Wood had nine points and five assists. Pearson shot 8 of 13 from the floor to come one point shy of his career high – set in an overtime loss at Northwest Nazarene last month – and freshman point guard Brennan Rymer dished three assists with no turnovers in a key 11-minute stint.

Following Tuesday's showdown in Fairbanks, the Seawolves travel south to face Montana State Billings in the regular-season finale on Feb. 24. Both games can be seen live on GNAC.tv.

The top six teams in the final regular-season standings qualify for the GNAC Tournament, which will be hosted by the Seawolves at the Alaska Airlines Center, Mar. 1-3. GNAC Tournament tickets are on sale now at 907-786-1562, GoSeawolves.com or AlaskaAirlinesCenter.com.