LACEY, Wash. – Junior guard Tobin Karlberg scored a career-high 28 points but 3^rd-seeded Alaska Anchorage could not overcome another high-scoring effort from Alaska Fairbanks guard Shadeed Shabazz on Friday, falling 63-58 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championships semifinals at Marcus Pavilion.

The Seawolves also got 10 points from senior forward Hunter Sweet as their season ended at 15-9.

The 10th-seeded Nanooks (11-14) were led by Shabazz's 33 points on 13-of-22 shooting as they pulled a third straight upset, advancing to Saturday's title game against either Central Washington or Western Oregon.

"They just outplayed us, and we didn't take advantage of our opportunities offensively tonight," said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne. "We're definitely disappointed in this loss – we wanted to keep our season going obviously – but I'm extremely proud of this group of guys overall. They went through a lot of adversity, losing last season entirely to Covid, and then having this season interrupted after Christmas break, but they persevered and represented our program and UAA. They set records for GPA, and I think we're going to have six or seven guys earning their degrees in May. We're disappointed we came up short tonight on the court, but every one of them is going to a success in life."

After beating the Nanooks handily, 95-72, in Anchorage on Feb. 19, the Seawolves found themselves in a back-and-forth battle throughout Friday's rematch – the first neutral-court or playoff meeting in the 109-game history of the rivalry.

Karlberg scored 14 points to stake UAA to a 29-25 halftime lead, and the Seawolves finally hit their stride offensively at the outset of the second. Sweet scored five straight points to give UAA the largest lead of the game at 37-27 with 15:47 to play, but the Nanooks quickly chipped away at the deficit, drawing even at 42-42 on six straight free throws.

Karlberg drained a three-pointer and hit two free throws to give the Seawolves a 47-44 edge with 9:37 left, but the offense stalled over the next five minutes, and Shabazz put the Nanooks ahead 57-50 on a three-point play with 3:54 left.

The Seawolves made it a one-possession game again when Karlberg's three-pointer sliced it to 61-58 with 14 seconds on the clock, only to see UAF's Abdul Mohamed break free for a clinching fastbreak dunk.

Karlberg shot 9 of 20 overall, 5 of 10 from three-point range and 5 of 6 at the charity stripe, along with seven rebounds and two assists. The Second Team All-GNAC selection will begin his senior season just 29 points shy of 1,000 for his career, along with the fourth-longest three-point streak in Seawolf history at 39 games.

First Team All-GNAC center Oggie Pantovic was held to six points in his final game, while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.