SEATTLE – Sophomore Tobin Karlberg scored a game-high 22 points for 5th-seeded Alaska Anchorage but a double-figure comeback came up short Saturday as 2nd-seeded Western Washington escaped with an 81-78 victory in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championships final at Royal Brougham Pavilion.

FINAL STATS

The Seawolves (20-14) also got 20 points and six rebounds from all-conference center Oggie Pantovic as their season came to an end.

The Vikings (20-10) were led by 16 points from guard Siaan Rojas and 15 points from tournament MVP Trevor Jasinsky to claim the GNAC's automatic berth to next week's NCAA Div. II West Regional Championships.

"I'm really proud of this group," said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne, who completed his 16th season at the helm. "We came off a tough week the last week of the regular season, so they could've rolled it up right there, but they came in and they fought and got us to a championship game. We had a rough first half, mentally and physically – we didn't make shots. We could've rolled over at halftime again, but we came out and battled, battled, battled, and then missed a shot at the end unfortunately. It hurts."After losing twice in close contests to WWU during the regular season, UAA fell behind early in the opening half and trailed 45-33 on the break.

The Seawolves began their comeback immediately after the break, with a Pantovic jumper slicing it to 49-47 at the 14:09 mark, and they took the lead at 61-60 when Pantovic converted a three-point play with 6:56 remaining.

The lead would change four times over the next four minutes, and UAA built a 76-72 lead with six straight free throws. An honorable mention all-league pick, Karlberg nailed a pull-up 16-foot jumper to stake his team to a 78-75 lead with 54 seconds remaining, prompting a WWU timeout.

D'Angelo Minnis missed a three-pointer, but Jasinsky pulled down an offensive rebound and the Vikings got the ball in the corner to Leif Anderson, who sank a trey and drew the fifth foul on Pantovic with 31 seconds left. After Anderson made the ensuring free throw, UAA ran down the clock and senior guard Tyrus Hosley got a good look on a three-pointer that bounced high and into Jasinsky's arms with 1.1 second on the clock.

Jasinsky two free throws at the other end, and Hosley's desperation three-quarters court heave was wide right at the buzzer.

Karlberg shot 9 of 12 from the field, including 3 of 5 on three-pointers, along with three assists, two steals and no turnover in 34 minutes. Pantovic tallied double figures for the 22^nd consecutive game, shooting 7 of 12 from the field and 5 of 5 at the free throw stripe.

A senior guard, Hosley completed his career with 16 points and four rebounds.