ANCHORAGE (Feb. 17) – Sawyer Storms had 17 points and nine rebounds and fellow senior Jaron Williams also delivered a huge all-around performance Saturday to help the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball fend off Western Washington for a 71-69 victory at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves (17-8, 7-7 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) got 14 points and career highs of six assists and eight rebounds from Williams as they forged a split of the season series, moving 1.5 games ahead of the visitors in the GNAC standings with two weeks remaining.

The Vikings (14-12, 6-9) – who entered the night ranked eighth nationally with 90.1 points per game – were led by 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting and nine rebounds from forward Nic Welp, but could not complete a late comeback effort.

"That was an absolutely outstanding defensive effort against an elite offensive ballclub," said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne. "From one-through-nine in our lineup today, we got huge contributions from everyone. Sawyer and Jaron were excellent, obviously, but it was guys like Caleb Larsen (6 points, one assist) and Hasaan Herrington (5 points, 3 rebounds) that made the difference between winning and losing this one."

After falling to the Vikings 92-83 a month ago in Bellingham, the Seawolves – who came in eighth nationally with 63.1 points per game allowed – were able to control the pace of play in the rematch.

UAA took a 35-30 lead into the locker room when Tyson Gilbert swished a free-throw-line jumper to end the opening half, but Western Washington rallied behind Welp to retake the advantage at 45-43 before the first media timeout of the second stanza.

That marked the last lead of the game for the visitors, as Williams fed Herrington for a three-pointer, then stole the ball in 'pick-six' fashion and fed Dillon Barrientos for a layup. Williams registered another dime on a layup by Storms to cap a 7-0 run, and the East Anchorage High School product sank two free throws to make it 63-56 with five minutes left.

Vikings forward Will Wilson kept his team close down the stretch, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and making a three-pointer with 1:19 remaining to slice it to a 68-65 margin.

Despite four straight free-throw misses by the Seawolves, the Vikings were unable to take advantage, still trailing by the same score when a potential tip-in by Wilson was waived off because of basket interference with 22 seconds to play.

Gilbert finally provided some insurance with two free throws a few seconds later, and a late free throw by Williams made Kai Johnson's layup at the buzzer insignificant except for the final score.

Storms scored 14 of his points after halftime, shooting 6 of 10 from the field (1-2 3FG) and 4 of 4 on free throws, along with four assists and two blocks. Williams was 3 of 5 from the field (1-2 3FG) and 7 of 10 on charities, scoring double figures for the ninth time this year.

Gilbert collected eight points and a pair of steals as UAA's leading scorer battled foul trouble most of the second half, while freshman center Sloan Lentfer equaled his second-most points as a collegian, scoring nine on 4-of-8 shooting, plus four rebounds.

Barrientos had nine points, and freshman point guard Trey Evans chipped in three assists with no turnovers in 12 minutes off the bench.