FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Senior guard Da'Zhon Wyche flirted with a triple-double and the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team used an impressive defensive effort Saturday to earn a 65-48 victory over Texas A&M International in the Mt. McKinley North Star Bank Invitational at the Patty Center.

Wyche had 20 points, a career-high nine rebounds and eight assists as the Seawolves (4-3) led virtually the entire way, holding the Lone Star Conference club to 33 percent shooting and forcing 19 turnovers – including five charging calls. Junior forward Sawyer Storms had 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and five rebounds for UAA, and junior guard Dathan Satchell had 11 points.

The Dustdevils (5-1) were led by nine points and seven rebounds from guard Jermaine Drewey in their first loss of the season.

"I'm extremely proud of our execution on both ends of the court today," said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne, whose team equaled its fewest points allowed to an NCAA Div. II opponent since Nov. 9, 2019 (77-48 vs Hawaii Pacific). "We played great team defense throughout, and we made smart decisions with the basketball for the most part offensively. The guys are starting to show more confidence as a group together, and that really came to fruition today. We're excited to get into conference play next week."

After scoring single digits for the first time as a Seawolf in yesterday's win over Westminster, Wyche got rolling early, tallying 10 points in the first eight minutes as UAA built an 18-8 advantage. The West Anchorage High School star finished 7 of 14 from the field and 4 of 5 at the foul stripe, while equaling his career rebounding high from his days at Texas-Tyler.

UAA built a 35-23 lead at the break, but had to fight off a Dustdevil rally when Shea Rax drained a three-pointer to make it 40-33 with 14 minutes left. The Seawolves answered with a 7-0 run to retake control, starting with a Tyson Gilbert three-pointer on a feed from Wyche. Junior wing Jaron Williams snagged two of his three steals during the spurt, which was capped by a fastbreak three-point play from Wyche.

The Seawolves led by double figures the rest of the way, finishing the day with a 32-30 rebounding advantage.

Junior forward Jaedon Bradley added seven points on 3-of-5 shooting – including a key three-pointer right before the half – and senior guard AJ Garrity was efficient again with six points (2-2 3FG), three rebounds, two steals, one assist, no turnover and no fouls.

The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center for the first time since Oct. 28 when they host Montana State Billings in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener Thursday at 5:15 p.m. AST. Surf to GoSeawolves.com for tickets and live links.