ANCHORAGE (Feb. 15) – Senior guard
Tyson Gilbert scored 23 of his 25 points after halftime and freshman forward
Sloan Lentfer tallied a career-high 18 points Thursday to propel the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team to an 83-81 comeback victory in double overtime against Simon Fraser at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves (16-8, 6-7 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 12 points and four assists from junior point guard
Dillon Barrientos as they erased an 18-point deficit with 11 minutes remaining to sweep the season series from the Canadians.
The Red Leafs (6-19, 4-10) were led by 16 points apiece from Zach Stone, David Penney and Irish Coquia, but the visitors were hurt by 22 turnovers and outshot .446 to .410.
"I'm really proud of the resilience of this group," said UAA head coach
Rusty Osborne, whose team overcame a 7-of-22 first-half shooting performance to connect at 55 percent (18 of 33) in the second half. "We played tight in the first half and were our own worst enemy. In the second, we changed some things offensively and Sloan started to have some success down low, opening things up for our perimeter guys."
After trailing 27-18 at the half, the Seawolves continued to struggle after the break. UAA fell behind 51-33 on back-to-back threes from Penney and Coquia with 11 minutes remaining, but the Red Leafs could not contain their momentum.
Hasaan Herrington (9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, no turnovers) jump-started the Seawolves with a trey from the wing, followed by threes from
Jaron Williams (7 points, 2 blocks) and
Barrientos. The surge continued until Herrington grabbed a defensive rebound and earned two free throws to make it 51-48 with 7:26 to play, and it remained a one- or two-possession affair for the rest of the night.
"Hasaan had a great night, Tyson and Dillon finally got it going, and
Sawyer Storms (10 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks) and Sloan were their steady selves," Osborne added. "It would have been easy to mail it in when we got down 18, but they kept battling and found a way."
Things looked bleak for the hosts when Simon Fraser collected Barrientos' miss with 38 seconds left and a 63-59 lead, but Penney was called for an offensive foul on a push-off against Gilbert, who drained a three-pointer seconds later.
After Eric Beckett swished two free throws for SFU with 20 seconds showing, Gilbert provided more heroics with a high-arching trey that tied it with nine seconds left. Penney's 14-foot jumper in the lane was partially blocked by Williams at the buzzer.
The first extra session featured just one basket by each team, with Gilbert tying it 69-69 on a transition layup at the 1:20 mark.
A 6-7 forward from Anchorage (Grace Christian), Lentfer scored on a hook shot to open the scoring in the second overtime and give UAA its first lead since 6-3.
The teams traded scores until Coquia made a short jumper for a 78-77 Red Leafs advantage with 1:07 on the clock, but Lentfer made two free throws 10 seconds later to give the Seawolves the lead for good.
Elliot Dimaculangan (12 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 46 minutes) answered two Gilbert free throws with a layup to keep his team within 81-80 with 13 seconds left, only to have Gilbert swish two more charities after being fouled on the inbounds.
Williams fouled Penney purposefully with 3.1 seconds left to prevent a three-point attempt, and UAA successfully corralled the rebound on the second free throw and called timeout. Inbounding from under his own basket, Gilbert heaved the ball to midcourt, where Williams outjumped a Red Leaf defender, gained possession and dribbled out the clock.
Gilbert finished 7 of 14 from the floor and 9 of 11 at the free-throw line, while collecting six rebounds, five assists and a game-high four steals.
Lentfer – who scored double figures for the first time – shot 8 of 13 and nabbed four boards, along with a career-high three assists.
The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center for a Saturday 5:15 p.m. tip against Western Washington. Find tickets, live links and more at GoSeawolves.com.
