ANCHORAGE (Feb. 26) – Senior guard Akok Machar scored a career-high 22 points and junior guard Cole Johnson produced 16 points and five assists Thursday to lead the Alaska Anchorage men's basketball team to an 80-59 victory over Western Oregon at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Ranked No. 5 in the NCAA Div. II West Region, the Seawolves (20-8, 12-5 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 10 points, four assists and five rebounds from junior guard Elijah Mobley as they committed just seven turnovers and outrebounded the visitors 43-21.

Eliminated from GNAC title contention with Saint Martin's victory Thursday over Alaska Fairbanks, the Seawolves can still sew up the No. 2 seed for the GNAC Tournament and a quarterfinal bye with a win over the Saints in Saturday's regular-season finale.

The Wolves (9-17, 4-13) were led by 14 points and four rebounds from guard Carson Frincke.

"We showed a lot of poise throughout the game and answered each of their runs with some big shots of our own," said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne, who was coaching his penultimate home game after announcing his retirement Monday. "Cookie (Machar) really stepped up his offensive game tonight with a couple of our leading scorers unavailable or in foul trouble, and Cole did an impressive job of both shooting and distributing the ball. It was another great team win for us."

Looking for their first season sweep of the Wolves since 2013-14, the Seawolves took control early. After a 4-0 start for the visitors, Johnson powered a 10-0 run with a pair of three-pointers, and Machar made it 19-10 with a tip-in at the 11:06 mark.

The trio of Machar, Johnson and Mobley combined to score the first 27 points for UAA, while Jesse Stines scored five of his nine points to cap a 15-0 surge that made it 34-13 with five minutes on the first-half clock.

UAA increased a 41-22 halftime lead with buckets from Mobley and Machar, and fended off a brief WOU run that sliced the advantage to 51-36 at the 14:39 mark.

A one-year transfer from fellow NCAA Div. II program Texas-Tyler, Machar shot 9 of 15 from the field (3-7 3FG), along with four rebounds, three assists, one steal, one block and no turnovers. The Australian bettered his previous career high from UTT by one point, helping alleviate the injury absence of senior guard Hasaan Herrington, who missed his second straight game with a lower-leg injury.

Meanwhile, Johnson continued his recent hot shooting, making 6 of 11 from the field and 3 of 8 from long range, and committing just one turnover in 31 minutes.

Mobley shot 5 of 9, while Stines shot 3 of 6 and equaled his most rebounds in a GNAC game this season with six. Starting forward Bishop Tosi scored a quiet four points for UAA but snagged seven rebounds and tied his career-best seven assists with no turnovers, while junior guard Zach Ibbetson added five points, two assists and a career-high-tying five rebounds off the bench.

The Seawolves conclude the regular season Saturday (7:30 pm) against regionally 3rd-ranked Saint Martin's (22-5, 14-3) at the Alaska Airlines Center. Find tickets, live links and more at GoSeawolves.com.