HONOLULU (Dec. 19) – Tyler Burraston matched his career high with 23 points and Sean Evans powered a huge first-half surge with 14 points and five assists Thursday, leading the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team to a 73-52 victory over Colorado State-Pueblo in the Hoops In Hawaii Classic at the Shark Tank.

The Seawolves (7-7) also got 11 points, five rebounds and two steals from junior forward Bishop Tosi as they led from start to finish, outrebounding the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference club 41-25.

The Thunderwolves (8-3) were led by 17 points from De'Shaun Cooper, but were outscored 30-3 from the three-point line, making their lone trey with 90 seconds remaining.

"Our newcomers have started to feel more comfortable in our system over the past few weeks and are playing with increased confidence," said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne. "Our shots were going down tonight, but just as importantly we controlled the glass and played at a high level defensively, disrupting their offensive flow."

Coming off an 11-day break for finals, the Seawolves showed no rust, scoring the first four points and earning an 18-5 advantage on one of Burraston's seven three-pointers.

The Thunderwolves sliced their deficit to 22-19 at the 8:44 mark when the Seawolves went to work defensively, holding them two just one point over the next five minutes. Meanwhile, Burraston and Evans put on a two-man show offensively, combining for all of UAA's points over a game-deciding 20-5 run. That streak finally ended when Burraston found Jesse Stines for a face-up jumper to make it 46-24 just before halftime.

UAA led by at least 17 points throughout the second half, converting 16 offensive rebounds into a 23-5 advantage in second-chance points.

Burraston shot 7 of 14 from long range – equaling his own UAA season high from the opener against NAIA opponent Warner Pacific – while Evans did all of his scoring in the first half, along with five rebounds and just one turnover.

Tosi shot 4 of 7, and Stines provided a huge lift off the bench with seven points on 3-of-3 shooting (1-1 3FG), five rebounds, no turnovers and a block.

The Seawolves conclude the non-conference portion of their schedule Friday at 6:45 pm AST against Johnson & Wales (R.I.). Find links to live video (PPV-$) and stats at GoSeawolves.com.