ANCHORAGE – Senior center Oggie Pantovic had 22 points and nine rebounds Thursday as the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team dominated the second half for a 71-59 victory over Simon Fraser at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Playing their first home game since Dec. 30, the Seawolves (9-5, 4-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 14 points and five assists from junior guard Tobin Karlberg, plus 14 points and three assists from senior forward Hunter Sweet. UAA shot .527 from the field for its best effort against a fellow NCAA Div. II opponent this year, and outrebounded the visitors 31-26.

Simon Fraser (9-7, 4-4) was led by 15 points apiece and a combined seven assists from the guard duo of David Penney and Wilifried Balata, but the Canadians were limited to 24 second-half points, with none in the final five minutes.

"I was really proud of the way our guys executed on our defensive adjustments after halftime," said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne, whose team held SFU to .346 shooting (9 of 26) in the second 20 minutes. "We displayed a lot of patience offensively, and that showed up in our high shooting percentage. I was also really proud of the lift we got from our bench, especially A.J. Garrity with his scoring and Luke Devine with his energy. Luke played a huge two-and-a-half minutes, bringing energy and activity at both ends of the floor."

Following a back-and-forth first half that featured seven ties and eight lead changes, the Seawolves took control on consecutive baskets from Pantovic for a 40-37 lead with 18 minutes left. Karlberg gave UAA a 61-52 advantage with a midrange jumper at the 8-minute mark, and SFU answered quickly with two free throws by center Julian Roche and a trey by Penney.

After back-to-back inside buckets by Rowlands and Pantovic, Roche scored on a nice feed from Penney to make it 65-59 with five minutes remaining, but the Canadians would not score again, committing turnovers on their next four possessions.

Pantovic made 10 of his first 11 shots and finished 10 of 13 from the floor, posting his fourth 20-plus scoring performance this season.

Karlberg scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half and did not commit a turnover in a game-high 39 minutes, and senior point guard David Rowlands contributed 13 points and three assists.

UAA also got a huge boost off the bench from Garrity as the junior guard scored all eight of his points after halftime, shooting 3 of 4 from the field and 2 of 2 at the free-throw line.

The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. tip against Western Washington. Surf to GoSeawolves.com for tickets (masks required for all attendees) and links to live video and stats.