Friday, March 3, 2017

LACEY, Wash. – For the second consecutive year, Western Oregon will play for a NCAA Division II National Tournament berth after the No. 3 seed Wolves defeated No. 2 seed Alaska Anchorage in a three-overtime classic, 91-84, the semifinals of the GNAC Men’s Basketball Championships, Friday at Marcus Pavilion.

The game was the first overtime game in GNAC Men’s Championship history and just the sixth three-overtime affair in the history of the conference. Ironically, Western Oregon played in the last one, falling 99-93 at San Francisco State back on Nov. 18. For Alaska Anchorage, it was the second three-overtime game in school history. The first was on Nov. 19, 2004, Rusty Osborne’s first game as UAA head coach, a 92-87 win over Caldwell.

With the win, Western Oregon (18-12) will meet the winner of the second semifinal game tonight between Western Washington and Saint Martin’s in the championship final on Saturday. The winner of that game will receive the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament. Alaska Anchorage fell to 21-8 and will wait to for the selection show on Sunday to see if they earn an at-large berth to the postseason.

Junior forward Tanner Omlid led the way for the Wolves with 22 points and 10 rebounds as he connected on 7 of 14 from the field after going scoreless in the first 20 minutes. Evan Garrison added 20 points, Ali Faruq-Bey scored 19 and Demetrius Trammell finished with 16.

Senior guard Suki Wiggs closed his UAA career with 29 points while playing 53 of the possible 55 minutes, connecting on 11 of 25 from the field to go along with nine rebounds and five assists. Wiggs broke the GNAC Championships single game record for field goal attempts, surpassing the mark of 23 set by Seattle Pacific’s Cory Hutsen against Western Washington in 2015.

Connor Devine scored 20 points and had six blocks, breaking the tournament single game record of four, which was tied last night by Western Oregon’s JJ Chrinside. Diante Mitchell also scored 20 points while Spencer Svejcar added 15.

In addition to the individual records, UAA set a team GNAC Championships single game record with 73 field goal attempts, eclipsing the mark of 69 set by Montana State Billings in 2012, and tied the single game record with seven blocked shots.

Regulation time was close throughout, with neither team buiding more than a six-point lead. The Seawolves owned a 55-53 lead with 13 seconds left in the second half, but gave Garrison a clear path to the hoop as time expired and his easy lay-in tied it at 55-55.

Alaska Anchorage took a three-point lead early in the first overtime on a three-pointer by Wiggs and a pair of Divine free throws. The Wolves were down two when a pair of Omlid free throws with 1:03 left knotted it at 62-62, which neither team was able to build on. The Seawolves again held serve late in the second overtime and led 72-70 with 1:14 left before Faruq-Bey’s lay-in with 21 seconds left tied it. The junior had a good look at a three-pointer to win it as time expired, which fell short.

The game was tied 78-78 in the third overtime before the Wolves put together a 7-0 run, culminating on Malik Leak’s three-pointer with 1:51 that made it an 85-78 game. The run proved to be the difference as the Seawolves never came closer than five points down the stretch.