Monday, February 12, 2018
PORTLAND, Ore. – With the GNAC Championships on the horizon, Alaska Anchorage has picked the right time to surge. Sitting at 5-7 just two weeks ago, the Seawolves have won three of their last four games to gain a share of sixth place with Alaska (8-8). To go along with its weekend sweep, Alaska Anchorage has been named the Red Lion/GNAC Team of the Week.
Taking on a pair of teams in the mix for a GNAC Championships’ berth, the Seawolves defeated Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, 59-48, before snapping Central Washington’s six-game win streak with a 70-54 victory on Saturday.
Injuries have plagued the Seawolves this season as they have been without senior starters Jacob Lampkin and Maleke Haynes for a majority of the year. Freshman guard Brennan Rymer also sat out the weekend after making 22 appearances this season. One thing has remained consistent, however, its defense. Entering this week, Alaska Anchorage is among the GNAC leaders in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense.
On Thursday, Alaska Anchorage used a strong first half to pull away from the Nighthawks, outscoring NNU 30-15. In just his eighth start of the season, senior guard/forward Drew Peterson led the Seawolves with 13 points in 32 minutes while junior forward Brian Pearson collected 10 points and seven rebounds in his 12th start. Alaska Anchorage limited Northwest Nazarene to just 28 percent shooting (7-25) from the field in the first half and 0 for 8 from beyond the arc.
“I’m extremely proud of that defensive effort tonight,” said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne on Thursday’s win. “We showed great intensity from the opening tip and we did a nice job of hitting our open looks, especially with our three-point shooting in the first half. Josiah [Wood] and our other primary ball handlers were also able to control the tempo, which was important in helping maintain a healthy lead throughout the game.”
The Seawolves carried their stifling defense into Saturday night, holding Central Washington to 32.2 percent shooting from the field. Wood led the charge with a game-high 19 points on 6 of 10 shooting while UAA was afforded 18 points off the bench. Alaska Anchorage also got 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds from junior guard Malik Clements, who made just his 12th start of the season.
“We used some pretty funky lineups tonight because of more injuries to our guards, but our guys were able to make the right adjustments and get us a big victory,” said Osborne. “I’m really pleased that we could send our seniors out on a high note.”
Alaska Anchorage boasts the league’s best scoring defense allowing 63.6 points per game. It is also second in the league in both field goal percentage defense (.423) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.337).
Alaska Anchorage will play its final four regular-season games on the road. The Seawolves visit Western Washington on Thursday before facing Simon Fraser on Saturday. The final week of the regular season will see the Seawolves take on Alaska on Feb. 20.