BILLINGS, Mont. (Feb. 25) – Junior guard Dathan Satchell delivered 17 points and six rebounds to help the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team end the season on a high note Saturday with a 70-61 victory over Montana State Billings at Alterowitz Gymnasium.

The Seawolves (13-14, 7-11 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 11 points from senior guard AJ Garrity and a combined 21 points and eight rebounds off the bench from junior forwards Jaron Williams and Jaedon Bradley as they outshot the hosts 47 percent to 35 percent.

Ranked No. 5 in the NCAA Div. II West Region, the Yellowjackets (20-8, 14-4) were denied at least a share of the GNAC regular-season title despite a game-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from guard Carrington Wiggins. MSUB will now finish second place by a game unless Saint Martin's (22-5, 14-3) suffers a home upset later tonight against Northwest Nazarene.

"Our staff is very proud of how we finished the season," said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne. "We had four high-level opponents here at the end and were a couple free throws away from ending with three wins in a row. After the last two heartbreakers, it would have been easy to lay down and just get it over, but these guys showed tremendous character and battled once again."

Coming off an overtime loss in their home finale last week and a 72-71, last-second setback Thursday at Seattle Pacific, the Seawolves controlled action for most of the night.

UAA led by as many as nine in the first half before settling for a 31-29 edge at the break and seeing the hosts rally for a 34-34 tie. Satchell provided the answer with one of his three three-pointers as the Seawolves retook the lead for good, and Williams pushed it to a 43-36 edge with four straight points.

The Yellowjackets made it a two-point game three times between the 6:15 and 4:40 marks, but UAA answered immediately each time, getting two baskets from Tyson Gilbert and a three-pointer by Garrity. Garrity swished a pull-up jumper to earn a 63-57 lead with 2:52 left, and the Seawolves sealed it with a key blocked shot by Sawyer Storms and 4-of-4 free-throw shooting by Satchell.

"I'm very happy for our seniors to end on a positive note," Osborne added. "AJ and Vojtech (Ruzek) came in at the height of Covid and stuck with things for three years. They were excellent students, teammates and friends. We will miss them but know they will do great things going forward."

Garrity shot 3 of 5 from long range in his final game, finishing tied for No. 10 on UAA's single-season three-point percentage list at .463 (38 of 82) and No. 14 on the program's career list at .419 (62 of 148).

Normally a reserve, Ruzek got the start and provided a big early lift, making his only shot and swiping two early rebounds and a steal. The Czech ended his career with a .552 field-goal percentage and had UAA's best overall grade-point average at 3.80.

Satchell shot 5 of 8 from the field, including 3 of 5 from deep, while Bradley (3-5 FG, 2-4 3FG, 2-4 FT) and Williams (4-8 FG, 2-2 FT) also had nice shooting days.

Storms finished with four points, six rebounds and tied Gilbert and Lachlan Viney with a team-high four assists.