Lions snap Seawolf home streak, 74-62

ANCHORAGE (Dec. 16) – Senior center Jeremiah Trueman’s career-high 25 points weren’t enough Tuesday as the Alaska Anchorage men’s basketball team dropped a 74-62 decision to Saint Leo at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

The loss snapped UAA’s 19-game winning streak on its primary home court, despite a late rally.

Saint Leo (5-5), of the Sunshine State Conference, was led by 17 points and seven assists from guard Quentin Cullop, plus 15 points and five rebounds from center Jordan Prais. The Lions out-shot the Seawolves 56.6 percent (30 of 53) to 41.3 percent (26-63) from the field, including a 60 percent (9 of 15) to 23 percent (3 of 13) advantage from three-point range.

The Seawolves (3-6) never led the Florida school, falling behind 11-4 early and 25-14 after almost 11 minutes. Trueman cut the deficit to 25-18 on a layup, but the Seawolves would not score again for the next six minutes.

Saint Leo earned its largest lead at 38-18 before UAA scored the final five points of the half.

UAA came out sharper in the second half, clawing within single digits, 55-47, on Brandon Walker’s layup at the 9:01 mark. A free throw by Walker made it 59-54 with 4:46 remaining.

The comeback was not to be, however, as Saint Leo used a 5-point possession to salt the game away. With 2:18 left and the score 62-54, Cullop was fouled while making a trey, then Prais nailed a short jumper after the Lions corralled an offensive rebound.

Walker scored all 10 of his points in the second half, while senior guard Kenny Barker had 12 points, six rebounds, five assists, zero turnovers and three steals.

Trueman was easily UAA’s offensive star of the night, however, shooting 11 of 21 from the field and tallying his second career double-double with 10 rebounds. The 6-9 center from New Zealand also matched his career-high with three assists.

The loss was UAA’s first by double digits at the WFSC since a 105-79 defeat to 17^th-ranked Western Washington on Feb. 17, 2005.

UAA gets a chance at revenge Wednesday when its hosts the Lions again at 7 p.m. at the WFSC.

--BOX AND PLAY BY PLAY ATTACHED--

Nate Sagan
Sports Information Director

University of Alaska Anchorage
3211 Providence Dr. / Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 786-1295 / Fax: (907) 563-4565
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