Seawolves men fall short vs. Vikings in basketball

The Seawolves (11-4 overall, 5-2 GNAC) trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half, but fought back to take a 66-65 lead with 1:51 remaining.

Western Washington (15-3, 6-1) controlled play down the stretch, however, and John Allen's 3-pointer off the glass with 20 seconds remaining gave the Vikings a 71-66 lead.

Allen, who finished with 17 points and five assists, nailed down the win when he hit two free throws with eight seconds left, putting the Vikings up 73-66.

Western Washington was just trying to run some time off the clock during the sequence that led the banked-in 3-pointer, Allen said, but the play was designed to put the ball in his hands. When the ball left his hand near the top of the key he knew it would probably go in, Allen said.

"I didn't think it would go in off the glass, but it felt right," he said. "I knew even if it was long, it would go in."

The Vikings shot better than 65 percent in the second half, and UAA coach Rusty Osborne said the Seawolves' defense was mostly to blame.

"Give them credit, they hit the shots," Osborne said. "Our defense in the second half was not good."

The Seawolves, led by Taylor Rohde's game-high 26 points, overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to beat a visiting Simon Fraser team Thursday, but falling behind early is something the Seawolves don't want to continue to do.

"That seems to be the norm, lately," Rohde said. "We always thought we were going to come back and get the win, but it didn't work out. We need to find a way to get ahead and stay ahead."

UAA's Abebe Demissie nailing a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key send the Seawolves into the locker room with a 31-29 halftime lead, but Western Washington scored the first nine points of the second half.

The run included two jumpers from Rory Blanche, who led the Vikings with 18 points. Blanche played a relatively quiet game, but regularly came up with timely scores that kept the Seawolves from building momentum. He hit two jumpers near the end of first half that were part of an 10-0 run that erased UAA's nine-point lead, its biggest of the game.

The Seawolves played most of the second half without senior point guard Steve White, who left with a hip injury, so junior Marcus Jackson ran the offense for the bulk of the remaining minutes. Jackson, who finished with nine points and five rebounds, provided a spark at times, attacking the rim and making some hustle plays.

"Marcus is a good player," Osborne said. "He can get in there and score a little more and he's a good rebounder from that position."

Jackson, a transfer from Arizona State, is one of a handful of Seawolves who are getting extra minutes because so many others are nursing injuries, and the inexperience may have played a role toward the end of the game, Osborne said. Though the Seawolves only turned the ball over nine times, Osborne didn't like the timing of some of them.

"We didn't turn the ball over a lot, but we had two crucial ones late," he said.

With the game tied 61-61, Zach Henefin hit a jumper to give the Vikings the lead and then he turned right around and stole the ball from Demissie at midcourt and raced in for another layup that made it 65-61 lead.

Until the last three games, it was unlike the Seawolves to be involved in such close games. Winners of 10 in a row before they lost a road game to Seattle Pacific last week, eight of those wins came by double digits.

Rohde said he doesn't expect things to get any easier.

"I don't think we are gonna have many blowout games throughout the conference," he said.

Reach Jeremy Peters at jpeters@adn.com or 257-4335.

WWU (73) -- Blanche 8-14 2-3 18; Henefin 4-8 0-0 8; Mitchell 2-6 4-6 9; Woodworth 3-4 2-2 11; Allen 6-9 2-2 17; Wilkins 2-5 0-0 5; Jones 2-3 0-1 5; Young 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-50 10-14 73.

UAA (68) -- Rohde 10-18 6-7 26; Thompson 4-8 0-0 11; White 0-2 0-0 0; Lauwers 1-5 0-0 2; Fossman 4-9 0-0 10; Jackson 2-7 5-7 9; Demissie 3-9 0-0 8; Hearn 0-1 0-0 0; Gibcus 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-60 11-14 68.

Western Washington 29 44 -- 73

UAA 31 37 -- 68

3-point goals -- WWU 9-19 (Henefin 0-2; Mitchell 1-3; Woodworth 3-4; Allen 3-5; Wilkins 1-4; Jones 1-1) UAA 7-20 (Thompson 3-6; Lauwers 0-3; Fossman 2-5; Demissie 2-6). Rebounds -- WWU 33 (Mitchell 7); UAA 29 (Rohde 8). Total Fouls -- WWU 16; UAA 15. Fouled out -- WWU, Mitchell; UAA, Rohde. Assists -- WWU 21 (Woodworth 8); UAA 21 (White 5). Turnovers -- WWU 13 (Henefin 4); UAA 9 (White 4). Blocks WWU 7 (Woodworth 4); UAA 4 (Demissie 2. Steals -- WWU 8 (Mitchell 4); UAA 5 (Demissie 2). Attendance -- 629. Officials -- McDougall, McNew, Paz.