HONOLULU – Senior forward Hunter Sweet had 17 points and nine rebounds and the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team used a big second-half defensive effort to earn a 62-56 win over Hawaii Pacific in both teams' season opener at McCabe Gymnasium on Saturday.

The Seawolves – who were playing their first game in 616 days after not taking the court in 2020-21 –  also got 15 points and three steals from junior guard Tobin Karlberg, while senior guard David Rowlands delivered 11 points, four assists and two steals against his former team.

The Sharks were led by 24 points from guard Rodney Hounshell, who made all six of his first-half shots to give the hosts a 35-31 lead at the break.

"It was a nice resilient effort by our guys," said Rusty Osborne, who earned his 300th career coaching victory at UAA. "They had a ton of adrenaline after not playing for so long, and that affected our performance, especially shooting and executing. But we made good adjustments and got some stops in the second half. Hunter did a great job settling down and making big buckets, and our small forward combo of Keegan (Crosby) and AJ (Garrity) did a nice job on both ends. D-Row (Rowlands) was solid and hit some big shots too."

After being outshot 50 percent to 35.5 percent in the opening half, the Seawolves held the Sharks to 33 percent in the second stanza, drawing even at 43-43 on a three-pointer by Karlberg with 13:51 remaining.

HPU responded with a bucket from Trey Miller 20 seconds later, but Sharks would go without another field goal until the 5:42 mark.

UAA took advantage with a 15-1 run until that point, earning its biggest lead at 58-46 on a three-pointer by Rowlands. Oggie Pantovic fed Crosby for a layup to make it 60-49 with five minutes remaining, and the Seawolves held on despite going scoreless from the floor the rest of the way.

A former All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference honorable mention performer at Concordia-Portland, Sweet made his long-awaited Seawolf debut with 6-of-10 shooting (3-5 3FG) and a pair of steals. He also drew five fouls and committed none in 39 minutes of action.

Rowlands – who spent his first four collegiate seasons at HPU before transferring as a graduate student this summer – shot 3 of 5 from long range, including a key four-point play with 7:49 left.

Another newcomer, Garrity had eight points on 3-of-6 shooting and drew multiple charges defensively, while Pantovic had six points, seven rebounds and three assists.

"The milestone is nice, but it's just another step on the journey," said Osborne, who began his 17th season at the helm. "What's more important is that after two years of just practicing, this group got win number one."

The Seawolves return to McCabe Gym on Sunday to face Chaminade at 4 p.m. AST. Surf to GoSeawolves.com for links to live video and stats.