ANCHORAGE (Nov. 22) – Senior forward
Bishop Tosi scored 15 points, including the game-winning layup with nine seconds remaining Saturday, to help the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team to a 50-49 victory over Northwest University at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves (5-2) also got 10 points and 10 rebounds from junior forward
Sylas Williams as they used a 40-26 rebounding edge to avoid the upset.
The Eagles (2-3) – an NAIA program from Kirkland, Wash. – were led by 12 points from forward Logan Stempniak, along with 10 points and three blocks from forward Andrew Iyamah.
Aiming to stay unbeaten in 29 all-time contests against non-NCAA teams at the Alaska Airlines Center, the Seawolves trailed 17-13 when Iyama scored a putback with 6:06 left in the first half. UAA would hold the visitors scoreless the rest of the way, though, claiming a 24-17 halftime lead on a Williams rebound basket with two seconds left.
The Seawolves seemed to pull away at the outset of the second half as they took a 35-19 lead on two free throws by
Hasaan Herrington.
Northwest started to chop away at its deficit, slicing it to single digits at 38-30 with 11 minutes remaining, and pulling within 44-42 on a Stempniak putback with 2:52 to play.
Williams scored on a feed from Herrington to earn a 48-44 advantage with two minutes left, only to see Iyamah complete an and-one, and the Eagles took the lead with 24 seconds left on a tip-in by Rashid Potter.
Despite a turnover on the next play, the Seawolves regained possession when Northwest's Christian Watkins missed the front end of a one-and-one with 20 seconds left. Instead of calling timeout, the Seawolves rushed the ball upcourt and got it to Herrington in the corner. Herrington found fellow senior Tosi in the paint for a layup with nine seconds left, and UAA survived a last-second three-point miss by Imayah.
Tosi shot 6 of 10 from the field and dished four assists, while Herrington had nine points, six rebounds, four assists, four steals and no turnovers.
UAA and Northwest square off again Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Alaska Airlines Center. Find tickets and more at GoSeawolves.com.
