Thursday, March 7, 2013

LACEY, Wash. – Mark McLaughlin swished through a running fadeaway jumper from 23 feet at the buzzer as sixth-seed Central Washington stunned No. 3 seed Alaska Anchorage 79-78 Thursday in the opening game of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championships at Marcus Pavilion.

The win moves CWU (15-12) into Friday’s semifinals against second seed and nationally third-ranked Seattle Pacific (23-3).  That game will tip off at 5:15 p.m. at Marcus Pavilion.

McLaughlin scored a tournament-record 32 points, including 26 in the second half as CWU rallied from a 20-point deficit in the final minute of the first half.

McLaughlin, who broke the old tournament record of 25 points set by CWU’s Jamar Berry against UAA in the 2011 championship game, made 10 of 13 second-half shots after converting on just one of six in the opening half.

UAA had used runs of 13-2 and 9-0 in building a 44-24 first-half lead and still was up 68-52 with 8:37 left  after a Liam Gibcus layup.

That, however, would be UAA’s last field goal for nearly seven minutes, and McLaughlin began scoring on seemingly every trip down the court as he accounted for 14 of CWU’s final 27 points, including a three-pointer to tie the game 73-73 with 2:01 left.

Gibcus then scored on a pick-and-roll feed from Kyle Fossman with 46 seconds to go, and freshman point guard Jalen Little made one of two free throws after grabbing a defensive rebound, putting UAA ahead 76-73.

Central’s Kevin Davis drove through the lane and bounced a jumper off the rim and in on Central’s next possession, drawing a foul in the process. The Wildcat center made his free throw to knot it with 12 seconds remaining, but his team did not stop Little on his drive down the court, and the rookie laid it in with 3.7 seconds showing.

After Fossman knocked a long inbounds pass out of bounds, the Wildcats called timeout and set up a play with 2.5 seconds on the clock.

Davis inbounded along the sideline to McLaughlin, who took a dribble and swished his third and final trey at the buzzer, giving his team its only lead of the second half.

Joining McLaughlin in double figures was Nate Walker with 13 points and Jordan Coby with 11.  Walker had eight of his points in the second half including a trey that pulled CWU within five points (68-63) with 5:01 remaining.

Gibcus led Alaska Anchorage with 18 points, connecting on nine 14 shots.  The Seawolves also got 11 each from Colton Lauwers, Teancum Stafford, Fossman and Abebe Demissie.  Little had 10 points.

UAA fell to 18-9 with the loss.  The Seawolves will have to wait until Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. (Pacific Time)  to see if they earn a NCAA Division II West Regional playoff berth.  UAA was ranked eighth in this week’s regional poll.

Eight teams will advance to the regional tournament, including the champions from the GNAC, PacWest and California College Athletic Association.