UAA bests SPU

"We were going into this game like it was one of the biggest games of the year," UAA senior Taylor Rohde said. "It's huge."

If that meant extra pressure for the Seawolves, they handled it just fine, taking a 78-69 win over Seattle Pacific to maintain their hold on second place in the conference and even the season series with third-place Seattle Pacific. The top two teams in the conference earn automatic byes in the first round of the GNAC tournament next month.

"We're one game up and we're trying to stay in second," UAA coach Rusty Osborne said. "We eliminated that first head-to-head tie breaker."

The Seawolves (16-4 overall, 10-2 GNAC) lost to Seattle Pacific (16-5, 8-4) on the road last month, an 85-51 defeat in which the Seawolves fell behind early and couldn't recover. Thursday's win followed the same pattern, only this time it was UAA bolting to a quick lead.

"We played harder," Osborne said. "We played hard down there, but didn't have that little extra."

The Seawolves opened with a 3-pointer by Colton Lauwers (8 points) and never trailed. By the time Lauwers hit his second 3-pointer, the Seawolves led 30-19 and they maintained a lead that danced around double-digits for the rest of the game.

"It was nice to see Colton come out a little bit," Osborne said. "He's been battling a shoulder (injury)."

The Seawolves, who have dealt with their share of injuries this season, strayed a little from the usual game plan, often moving 6-foot-9 center Rohde (13 points) to the top of the key and letting guards penetrate the paint.

"This group has to be a chameleon," Osborne said.

Sophomore guard Travis Thompson led UAA with 16 points, scoring the team's last five points from the free throw line. Senior guard Steve White (15 points) provided a virtual game-clincher when he drove down the right side of the key and scooped in a layup to give UAA a 71-60 lead with 1:11 left.

Seattle Pacific, which was led by 22 points from David Downs, came within six points when Jake Anderson hit one of his three 3-pointers with 4:30 remaining, but the Seawolves didn't wait long to rebuild a double-digit lead. White hit a free throw on the team's next possession and Thompson drilled the last of his three treys after the Seawolves made a defensive stop.

UAA's defense was solid all night, holding Seattle Pacific's leading scorer in check. Andy Poling, a 6-foot-11 center, finished with 12 points and rarely seemed to be a factor.

"I'm not 6-11, but it's still hard to finish over me," the 6-9 Rohde said.

The game was physical and even got a little heated in moments. Shortly after the midway-point of the second half, Rohde hit the deck after getting hit in the chest and didn't get up for several minutes.

"We were just going in for a rebound and people got tangled up," Rohde said. "The post is the post. It's probably going to hurt."

On Saturday the Seawolves will host Montana State- Billings, another tough opponent lurking near the top of the conference standings.

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

SEATTLE PACIFIC (69) -- Downs 7-15 8-9 22; Poling 5-12 2-4 12; Wall 4-7 0-0 10; Anderson 3-5 0-0 9; Stockton 2-4 3-4 8; Hutsen 1-1 3-4 5; Dorman 0-2 2-2 2; Niang 0-1 1-6 1; Morse,Scott 0-0 0-0 0; Carel,Riley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-48 19-29 69.

UAA (78) -- Thompson 3-10 7-8 16; White 4-7 7-9 15; Rohde 5-6 3-3 13; Fossman, 3-3 0-0 9; Demissie 3-3 0-0 8; Lauwers 3-6 0-0 8; Ridgeway2-9 0-0 5; Gibcus 0-0 2-2 2; Jackson 0-1 2-2 2; Hearn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-45 21-24 78.

Seattle Pacific 30 39 -- 69

UAA 41 37 -- 78

3-point goals -- Seattle Pacific 6-20 (Anderson 3-5; Wall 2-4; Stockton 1-3; Dorman 0-2; Downs 0-6), UAA 11-19 (Fossman 3-3; Thompson 3-8; Lauwers 2-5; Demissie 2-2; Ridgeway 1-1). Total fouls -- SPU 21, UAA 20. Fouled out -- none. Rebounds -- Seattle Pacific 31 (Poling 6; Wall 6), UAA 21 (Rohde 5). Assists -- SPU 17 (Downs 7), UAA 18 (Ridgeway 5; White 5). Turnovers -- SPU 14 (Poling 4), UAA 13 (Thompson 3). Steals -- SPU 9 (Poling 3), UAA 3. Blocked shots -- SPU 4 (Poling 2), UAA 2. A -- 692.