ANCHORAGE – Junior guard Tobin Karlberg scored all 20 of his points after halftime, including the go-ahead layup with one minute remaining, helping the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team to an 88-83 victory over Seattle Pacific on Thursday at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves (7-3, 2-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 19 points and eight assists from senior point guard David Rowlands, along with 15 points and 14 rebounds from senior center Oggie Pantovic, as they repelled a late surge by the GNAC preseason coaches' poll favorites.

The Falcons (8-6, 1-2) were led by 24 points and three steals from forward Harry Cavell, 15 points and five assists from guard Divant'e Moffitt, and 14 points and five assists from forward Shaw Anderson.

"We played one good half defensively and one good half offensively, and it came down to a couple possessions where we were able to make some key stops and get a couple baskets, and that was the difference," said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne, whose team outscored the visitors 16-6 on second-chance points. "I think one of the good things we did was rebound – we only gave up four offensive rebounds, which offset the fact that they only turned it over nine times.

"They're a very talented team and we're still learning to play together. We hadn't played in 26 days, so to get this win against the preseason favorites is a big step for us."

In a series now tied at 41 wins apiece after 82 games, it was another classic matchup, featuring 10 lead changes, five ties, and no advantage larger than eight points.

The Seawolves scored the last 10 points of the first half, closing with three-pointers from Rowlands and junior guard A.J. Garrity to take a 39-33 lead at the break.

UAA pushed its second-half lead to eight points on four occasions, going up 64-56 on a Karlberg trey with 8:48 remaining and 69-61 on a Hunter Sweet three-point play at the 6:47 mark.

The defending GNAC regular-season champs began to chip away, however, scoring on 10 straight possessions to retake the lead with four minutes remaining. Moffitt finished the surge with a layup to give the Falcons an 81-78 lead with two minutes left, but Pantovic tied it with a three-pointer 24 seconds later.

After a missed three-pointer by Anderson, Sweet fed Karlberg for a driving layup at the one-minute mark for an 83-81 lead. SPU missed a pair of shots on its next possession, and Pantovic's defensive rebound led to a long fastbreak pass from Rowlands to Crosby for a dunk with 29 seconds left.

Following a Moffitt layup, Rowlands split a pair of free throws, but the Falcons could not take advantage of the miss. SPU passed the ball around the perimeter before Shaw settled for an off-balance three-point try with five seconds showing, and Sweet corralled the rebound and made the game-clinching free throws.

Despite going 0 of 3 from the field in the first half, Karlberg responded with 8 of 11 accuracy in the final 20 minutes, including 4 of 5 from long range. The local Grace Christian School product added four assists, no turnovers and made a key steal as well.

Meanwhile, Pantovic posted 11 rebounds in the first half and finished with his third straight double-double, shooting 2 of 6 from long range and 5 of 6 at the foul stripe.

Rowlands had 16 of his 19 points in the opening half, shooting 4 of 6 on threes and committing just two turnovers in 32 minutes.

Sweet finished with 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, and no turnovers, while Crosby had nine points on 4-of-7 shooting and six boards.

UAA also got a big lift off the bench from junior guard A.J. Garrity, who scored a career-high nine points, making 2 of 5 three-pointers and all three of his free throws.

With Saturday's originally scheduled game against Montana State Billings now postponed due to weather and travel-related issues, the Seawolves will next take the court Jan. 6 for a road game at Western Washington. Surf to GoSeawolves.com for links to live video and stats.