ANCHORAGE – Alaska Anchorage guards
Tyson Gilbert and
Lachlan Viney scored 13 points apiece, but visiting Western Oregon used an early run in overtime to earn a 74-69 men's basketball victory Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves (12-13, 6-10 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 10 points off the bench from junior forward
Jaedon Bradley as their home season came to an end.
The Wolves (11-12, 8-8) got a game-high 26 points from GNAC Preseason Player of the Year Cameron Cranston, along with 16 points from forward Cameron Benzel, and 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists from center John Morrill-Keeler.
It was a back-and-forth affair from the beginning, featuring 10 ties, eight lead changes and no lead larger than eight points for either squad.
Western Oregon used a late first-half/early second-half surge to claim a 39-34 edge with 18:28 remaining, before UAA retook the lead on consecutive threes from
Dathan Satchell.
The Seawolves allowed just 11 points over the first 13 minutes of the second half to go up 54-47, but the visitors began to chip away, forging a 61-61 tie on Qiant Myers's free throws at the 3:31 mark.
Neither team scored for the next two and a half minutes until Cranston hit an off-balance bank shot with 59 seconds left, only to see Viney race downcourt and tie it with a layup nine ticks later.
Following a defensive stop, Viney had a chance to win it when he was fouled on a drive with 3.6 seconds remaining, but the sophomore from Australia missed the front end of the bonus situation, and the game went to overtime when senior
Vojtech Ruzek deflected a WOU inbounds pass with 1.9 seconds left.
UAA could never claim the lead in the extra session as Morrill-Keeler, Cranston and Benzel scored on the Wolves' first three possessions.
AJ Garrity drained a long-range three-pointer with 1:05 left to make it 69-68 and had a chance to tie on a three-point try by
Sawyer Storms, but his shot bounced off the rim with 20 seconds remaining.
Gilbert shot 5 of 12 from the field and dished a season-high six assists with no turnovers, while Bradley shot 4 of 5 overall, including 2 of 2 from distance.
Storms had nine points, five assists, two steals and a team-high seven rebounds, and Garrity finished with nine points, two assists and no turnovers in his final home appearance.
The Seawolves close the season next week with road games against Seattle Pacific on Thursday and Montana State Billings on Saturday. Surf to GoSeawolves.com for links to live video and stats.