ANCHORAGE (Nov. 16) – Junior forward Sylas Williams had 22 points and eight rebounds Sunday to help the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team claim the title of the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge, presented by Alaska Airlines, with a 57-53 victory over Chaminade at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Williams was named the event's Most Outstanding Player after shooting 10 of 20 from the field, while fellow-all-tourney selection Hasaan Herrington tallied 17 points, five assists, three steals and no turnovers for the Seawolves (4-2).

The Silverswords (1-1) were led by 15 points from all-tourney pick Roland Banks, along with 14 points and six rebounds from guard Kent King.

"I loved the way we guarded for 40 minutes," said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne, whose team forced 20 turnovers and outrebounded the Honolulu club 41-31. "Guys were locked in, and that was the difference. We made it hard for them to score 5-on-5. Offensively, we're still learning and developing chemistry after having Sylas and Jeremiah (Coleman) out for so long. We will get better as we get more practice with everyone healthy, but for now I'm very proud of our resilience both nights (including Saturday's 70-65 win over Hawaii Pacific) when our opponents made runs."

Meeting their most common non-conference rival for the 39th time, the Seawolves took control early with an 11-2 run, sparked by consecutive treys from Herrington. UAA led 26-11 when Akok Machar sank a midrange jumper, and took a 39-24 lead into the locker room.

The Seawolves survived a tough offensive stretch to retain a 47-32 lead with 11:40 remaining, but the Silverswords utilized a full-court press to get back into the game with a 10-0 run.

Kris King scored back-to-back baskets to slice it to 51-48 with 3:55 left, and Kent King brought things even at 53-53 with two free throws at the 1:26 mark.

UAA would never trail, however, as senior center Bishop Tosi made an athletic spin move in the paint and scored his only field goal of the game with 59 seconds left. Williams stripped Banks for a steal with 22 ticks showing, and the Silverswords sent Tosi to the line for a one-and-one with 13 seconds on the clock. Tosi missed the front-end free throw, but Williams corralled the offensive board and went straight up for the clinching layup.

Williams had three offensive rebounds, Tosi four and senior John McFadden grabbed five, helping the Seawolves to a 21-7 edge in second-chance points.

Tosi finished with eight total rebounds, and McFadden had six points (3-5 FG), seven total rebounds, two steals and no turnovers in 10 clutch minutes off the bench.

The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday (3 pm) and Sunday (1 pm) for games against Northwest University. Find tickets and live links at GoSeawolves.com.

2025 Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
Roland Banks, Chaminade
Davis Crilly, Alaska Fairbanks
Hasaan Herrington, Alaska Anchorage
Quentin Meza, Hawaii Pacific
Sylas Williams, Alaska Anchorage (Most Outstanding Player)