Thursday, March 5, 2020

SEATTLE – Alaska Day may officially be in October but the GNAC’s Alaska teams are celebrating it early.

No. 5 seed Alaska Anchorage joined No. 6 seed Alaska in advancing in the GNAC Men’s Basketball Championships, pulling ahead late to take an 85-76 victory over No. 4 seed Northwest Nazarene in the quarterfinals on Thursday at Royal Brougham Pavilion.

The Seawolves trailed by nine early in the second half before rallying to tie it at 69-69 on senior Tyler Brimhall’s lay-in with 4:09 to go. Alaska Anchorage then went on a 12-1 run over the next three minutes to secure the win.

The wins mark the third time in tournament history that the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds have advanced out of the quarterfinals of the GNAC Championships and the first time since 2015. With the win, the Seawolves (19-13) will face No. 1 seed Seattle Pacific in the semifinals on Friday at 2:15 p.m.

Brimhall led Alaska Anchorage with 17 points on 7 of 10 from the field. Senior guard Tyrus Hosley finished with 15 points and a team-high five rebounds. The Seawolves shot 51.8 percent from the field but were just 32 percent from three-point range.

Freshman forward George Reidy led Northwest Nazarene (15-11) with 17 points on 8 of 13 from the field. Freshman guard Jaylen Fox finished with 12 points and senior forward Olamilekan Adetunji had a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Nighthawks shot 48.5 percent from the field and outrebounded the Seawolves 31-30.

Northwest Nazarene set the pace in the first half, breaking away from the early 4-4 tie with a 14-2 run over a six-minute stretch. The run culminated on Reidy’s jump at the 14:01 mark that gave the Nighthawks an 18-6 lead. From that point the Seawolves slowly, but surely, whittled the deficit down. Tobin Karlberg brought UAA within five, 20-15 on his bucket with 10:55 to go.

The Nighthawks pushed the advantage back to eight points on a Reidy three-point play that made the score 23-15 at the 9:45 mark. The lead was 29-24 before a Hosley three-pointer and Brimhall’s lay-in with 3:44 left made it a two-point game, 31-29. Hosley’s two free throws at 2:07 gave the Seawolves their first lead of the game at 34-33 before the two traded shots the rest of the half. Fox gave the Nighthawks the last word with his lay-in providing for a 39-37 halftime lead.

Northwest Nazarene pushed again early in the second half, building to a 50-41 lead on Reidy’s inside jumper three minutes in. The Seawolves pulled back to within four points, only to watch the Nighthawks go back up nine when Fox connected on a three-pointer with 12:01 to go.

Alaska Anchorage slowly chipped away and tied the contest on Brimhall’s lay-in with 4:07 left. While the Seawolves found the hot hand, the Nighthawks went cold as they went 3 for 11 from the field over the final four minutes. Free throws by Oggie Pantovic and Jack Macdonald provided for UAA’s largest lead of the game, 81-70, with a minute to go.