ANCHORAGE – Junior guard
Tyson Gilbert equaled his season high with 18 points but the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team could not slow down nationally ranked Saint Martin's in an 82-73 loss Thursday at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves (12-12, 6-9 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 14 points apiece from senior guard
AJ Garrity and junior forward
Jaedon Bradley as their three-game winning streak came to an end.
The Saints (21-4, 13-2) – ranked No. 25 in the NABC top-25 coaches' poll and No. 23 in the D2SIDA media poll – were led by 25 points and eight rebounds from center Shakeem Alcindor. Point guard Jaden Nielsen-Skinner added 10 points and five assists as the visitors won their eighth straight and moved into a tie with idle Montana State Billings for first place with three games remaining.
After falling 100-73 last month in Lacey, Wash., the Seawolves kept the rematch much closer. UAA trailed 41-32 at the half as Gilbert accounted for 14 of his points in the opening 20 minutes, but Saint Martin's scored the first seven points of the second stanza and built a 57-37 lead with 15:15 to play.
Bradley scored all 14 of his points in the second half, shooting 7 of 9 from the field and converting all three of his offensive rebounds into baskets.
Junior forwards
Sawyer Storms and
Jaron Williams led UAA with five assists apiece, equaling a career high for Williams.
Gilbert shot 4 of 7 from the field (2-3 3FG) and 8 of 10 at the line as the Colorado State-Pueblo transfer tied his UAA scoring high for the third time and tallied double figures for the ninth time in the last 10 games.
The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center for their home finale Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against Western Oregon. Surf to GoSeawolves.com for tickets and live links.