UAA rallies to down men's basketball 65-60
January 22, 2013
Jamie Foland
907-474-6807
Alaska Anchorage shot better than 52 percent in the second half and outscored Alaska 40-28 over the final 20 minutes to rally for a 65-60 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball victory on Saturday night in front of a raucous crowd of 1,128 fans at the Patty Center.
The Nanooks (10-5, 5-2 GNAC), who saw their six-game win streak come to an end, led by as many as nine points at 36-27 with 16:49 to go but the Seawolves (11-4, 4-3 GNAC) gradually erased the deficit. Trailing 39-31, a three pointer by Christian Leckband sparked an 11-4 run to bring the visitors to within 43-42 with 10:54 to go.
Alaska upped the advantage back to 53-48 with just over six and a half minutes remaining but Liam Gibcus scored six straight to give UAA its first lead since 17-15 just over midway through the first half. Down three, junior center Sergej Pucar (Belgrade, Serbia/Business administration) committed a flagrant foul on Gibcus and he knocked down both free throws and on the ensuing Seawolf possession, Gibcus hit a hook shot in the paint to put UAA up 54-53 with 5:46 left.
After a Nanook free throw to square it at 54, Gibcus converted a jump shot and Abebe Demissie drained a trey and added a free throw to give the 'Wolves a 60-54 lead with 2:23 to go. Junior guard Pat Voeut (Bellingham, Wash./Communication) hit a jumper with 1:06 left and then added two free throws with 23 ticks to go to bring the Nanooks to within 60-58.
Kyle Fossman went 4-for-4 from the line to give the Seawolves a four-point lead with 11 seconds left and after missed three by Alaska, one more from the charity stripe by Colton Lauwers put the game away.
Gibcus finished with a game-high 18 points to go with six rebounds and six assists to help UAA extend its winning streak in the series with Alaska to 14 straight games. Demissie posted a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds while Fossman had 11 points.
The Nanooks were led by junior guard Ronnie Baker (Vallejo, Calif./Communication), who had a team-best 15 points and three steals while Voeut added 14 points and eight assists, which tied his career-high total. Senior guard Dominique Brinson contributed nine points and three dimes while junior forward Andrew Kelly (Justice Studies, Law & Society) had eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
UAA shot 44 percent (22-50 FG) from floor while Alaska was not far behind at 42 percent (22-52 FG). The Seawolves drained seven of 14 three-point attempts while Alaska made five of 15 tries from outside. UAA controlled the board 40-29, including 9-5 on the offensive glass. The Nanooks outscored the Seawolves 21-12 off turnovers and 26-20 in the paint.
UAA opened the game with an early 12-7 lead just over five minutes in. After Alaska cut it to one at 21-11, UAA scored the next five to lead 17-11. The Nanooks responded with a 15-0 run that spanned 5:12 to put the home team up 26-17 with 4:51 left. During the run, Alaska held UAA without a point for 6:26 and led 32-25 at the break.
The Nanooks return to action next week when they hit the road for a two-game set. On Thursday, they face Simon Fraser (5-10, 0-7 GNAC) Thursday before rounding out the weekend at third-ranked and undefeated Western Washington (16-0, 7-0 GNAC) Saturday. Both games are set for 6 p.m. (AKST) starts.