Hampton 69, UAA 61

ANCHORAGE (Nov. 26) - Jordan Brooks and Michael Freeman led a balanced scoring effort with 11 points apiece Wednesday to push their Hampton squad to a 69-61 victory over host Alaska Anchorage in the opening game of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout at Sullivan Arena.

The Pirates (2-2) shot 11 of 22 from three-point range and committed just 10 turnovers to hold off the Division II Seawolves (0-4).

UAA was led by a season-high 23 points from sophomore Div. I transfer Brandon Walker (Loyola Marymount), who shot 7 of 12 from the field and 4 of 7 from three-point range. Senior center Jeremiah Trueman scored a career-high 21 points (9-11 FG) and grabbed six rebounds for the Seawolves.

Brooks - a 5-9 sophomore guard - nailed 3 of 4 from long range, including on back-to-back possessions after the Seawolves had pulled within 51-46 at the 6:25 mark.

Senior guard Kenny Barker grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, but the Seawolves' go-to scorer managed just two points on 1-of-10 shooting. In fact, beyond Trueman and Walker, the rest of the Seawolves shot 7 of 31 from the field.

Hampton, the first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference school ever to appear at the 31-year-old tourney, moves on to face the winner of Northern Illinois and Portland State in Thursday's 5:30 p.m. AST semifinal. The Seawolves will play the NIU-PSU loser at noon Thursday.

UAA men open Shootout vs Pirates

The Alaska Anchorage men’s basketball team (0-3) kicks off the men’s portion of the 31^st annual Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout when it takes on Hampton on Wednesday, Nov. 26 (7:30 p.m.) at Sullivan Arena. Other possible Shootout opponents for the Seawolves are Northern Illinois, Portland State, San Diego State, Seattle, Louisiana Tech and Western Carolina. Get complete details, including how to follow all of the action live, in the attached weekly release.