ANCHORAGE – Teancum Stafford’s three-pointer from the deep left corner with 1:03 left proved to be the dagger as Alaska Anchorage roared back from a 16-point first-half deficit to defeat Northwest Nazarene, 92-83, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex Thursday night.
Travis Thompson poured in a game-high 34 points to lead the Seawolves, which improved to 10-7 overall and 3-3 in GNAC play. Brian McGill had 19 and Stafford 13 along with a career-high 14 rebounds.
Despite a sub-par shooting night, UAA senior guard Kyle Fossman scored nine points and eclipsed the 1,000-point mark (1,007 and counting). Meanwhile 10th-year UAA head coach Rusty Osborne registered his 185th career win, moving him to within one of UAA’ all-time winningest men’s basketball coach Charlie Bruns (186-117, 1995-2004).
NNU, which slipped to 5-9 overall and 3-3 in the GNAC, were led by Kevin Rima (23 points) and Derek Isaak (21).
The Crusaders got out of the blocks quickly, jumping to an immediate 7-0 lead and led by as many as 16 (31-15) at the 8:38 mark of the first half.
Thanks in large part to Thompson’s 20 first-half points, including 12-for-13 from the free throw line, UAA was able to slice that lead to seven with 34 seconds left. Derek Isaak’s long-range three with :01 left gave NNU its 10-point halftime margin.
The Seawolves came out in the second half and used a strong defensive effort and improved shooting to pull even at 61-all on a Thompson three-pointer at 14:21. NNU briefly regained the lead at 65-54 at 12:26, but UAA went on a tear, opening up a 10-point advantage (75-65) on a Stafford layp at 8:23.
The Crusaders, who wound up with four players in double-figure scoring, wouldn’t go away and cut the lead to three at 79-76 on an Isaak three with 5:57 left. But UAA salted things away down the stretch, capped off by Stafford’s three at 1:03 left on a nifty feed from McGill.
“Our defense was key in the second half – we held them down for awhile and were able to grind it out,” said head coach Osborne. “Brad Mears really came out and gave us a spark and Teancum was really good for us down the stretch. Obviously Travis and Brian were very big for us. It was just a good team win.”
Though UAA had an inauspicious shooting night (37 percent), the Seawolves outrebounded the taller Crusaders, 43-41, and UAA committed just four turnovers on the night.
UAA will host Central Washington (7-7, 3-3) on Saturday at 7 p.m. CWU fell 84-80 to UAF in Fairbanks Thursday night.
Notes: Travis Thompson eclipsed the 30-point mark for a game for the fourth time on the season…The 39 3-pters attempted on the night by UAA was fourth most in program history and most ever against an NCAA II opponent.
Nate Sagan
Sports Information Director
University of Alaska Anchorage
3211 Providence Dr.
Anchorage, AK 9508
(907) 786-1295 / nate@uaa.alaska.edu
GoSeawolves.com
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