Not having a lineup full of shot blockers helped the UAA men's basketball team come up big Friday at the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.
The Seawolves shut down a high-scoring forward and changed the course of the game by keeping their feet on the ground in a 74-67 victory over Houston Baptist.
A series of offensive fouls by Houston Baptist, coupled with a 25-point game by Brandon Walker, carried UAA into today's fourth-place game at Sullivan Arena. The Seawolves (2-3) play Ball State (3-2) at 2 p.m.
Scoreless in Thursday's 32-point loss to Weber State, Walker pumped in 25 points on 10 of 16 shooting, including 6 of 8 in the second half.
The win marked the 27th Shootout -- out of 33 -- in which the Division II Seawolves scored a victory over a Division I opponent. They are 31-67 all-time in the Shootout, with their most recent win a gritty one.
"Our guys gave a tremendous physical effort," UAA coach Rusty Osborne said.
UAA drew four offensive fouls, two of them committed by the Great West Conference's preseason player of the year, in a 2 1/2-minute span of the first half that turned the game around.
The Seawolves trailed 16-11 when they drew the first of the charges, and they led 24-16 shortly after drawing the fourth.
Included in that span was a technical foul on Houston Baptist coach Ron Cottrell for his objections to the calls, all of which looked legit.
The charges put the Seawolves in charge and saddled Houston Baptist senior Andrew Gonzalez, who scored 26 points Thursday against Arizona State, with three fouls.
Gonzalez played 11 minutes of the first half, and although he played the entire second half, he finished with five points on 2-of-9 shooting -- a credit to Walker, who guarded him much of the game, and to Casey Robinson and Taylor Rohde, who took most of the charges.
"You get really aggressive offensive teams, and that'll happen," Robinson said with a hint of a smile. "I'm not a shot-blocker, so to take a charge -- that gives them a foul and gives us the ball."
Osborne said taking charges was part of the plan for the 6-foot-6 Gonzalez, who averaged 19 points a game last season.
When watching video to prepare for the Huskies, UAA coaches noticed that most teams try to block Gonzalez' shots with little success. Osborne figured that if Division I teams can't block him, the Division II Seawolves couldn't either.
"He's really crafty and he has long arms and he draws a lot of fouls," Osborne said. "I told our guys, 'We can't block his shots, so let's hold our ground and take charges.' "
The plan worked like a charm.
"UAA did a great job on Andrew Gonzalez," Cottrell said. "All evening he had a hard time getting any open looks."
Osborne's pregame instructions also included a challenge for his players.
"I told them to find a way to impact the game, no matter what area," he said. "If you're not scoring, go get a rebound, take some charges, make some assists. We had a lot of guys have an impact tonight."
None, perhaps, more than Walker, a 6-3 senior who was assigned to guard Gonzalez and did so splendidly, limiting him to three shots in the first half. He also had three of UAA's five blocks.
"It's not just about offense," he said.
But Walker's offense showed up too. He made his first four shots of the second half to help UAA open up a 46-32 lead in the first four minutes.
Houston Baptist made two runs later in the half that closed the gap to 60-55 with just under four minutes to go. Then came an impressive series of plays by Rohde and Mario Gill that kept the Huskies at bay.
Robinson and Rohde each hit a free throw to make it 62-55, with Rohde earning a trip to the line by drawing a foul while out-battling Houston Baptist for a tough rebound on his own missed shot.
The Seawolves got the ball right back when Gill soared to steal a pass. They got the ball inside to Rohde, who hesitated long enough before shooting to draw contact. He hit the bucket and the free throw to make it 65-55, and a running jumper by Gill made it 67-55. From there, the Seawolves hit seven of eight free throws to seal the win.
Robinson finished with 14 points and six rebounds, Gill added 11 points and nine rebounds, and Rohde had nine points and seven rebounds. Drew Robinson added nine points and six assists and helped Walker contain Gonzalez.
As for Walker, he snapped out of a slump in which he shot 30 percent in his first four games, well below his 51 percent accuracy of last season.
His 25 points moved him to No. 4 on the list of UAA's greatest Shootout scorers with 139 points in three tournaments with one game to go. He's one point ahead of Hansi Gnad (138 points in four Shootouts). Ahead of him are Peter Bullock (213 in four Shootouts), Ed Kirk (169 in three Shootouts) and Jason Kaiser (160 in two Shootouts).
Beth Bragg can be reached at adn.com/contact/bbragg or call her at 257-4335.
HOUSTON BAPTIST (67) -- Hinnenkamp 2-3 0-0 4, Bembry 1-2 4-4 6, Gonzalez 2-9 0-0 5, Dixon 5-12 1-1 11, Moss 6-11 1-2 15, Thomas 1-2 0-0 2, Echols 1-4 1-3 6, Berry 5-6 2-3 15, Obetoh 0-0 0-0 0, Asp 0-0 0-0 0, Evans 1-3 0-0 3, Ryan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals -- 25-52 9-13 67.
UAA (74) -- Rohde 3-8 3-7 9, C. Robinson 5-11 2-4 14, D. Robinson 1-7 6-6 9, Gill 3-7 4-5 11, Walker 10-16 1-2 25, Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, White 0-0 0-0 0, Gibcus 0-0 0-0 0, Peterson 2-3 2-4 6. Totals -- 24-53 18-28 74.
Three-point goals -- HBU 8-16 (Gonzalez 1-2, Dixon 0-1, Moss 2-6, Echols 1-1, Berry 3-3, Evans 1-3), UAA 8-20 (C. Robinson 2-5, D. Robinson 1-3, Gill 1-4, Walker 4-7, Thompson 0-1). Rebounds -- HBU 30 (Bembry 6), UAA 32 (Gill 9). Total Fouls -- HBU 28, UAA 22. Fouled Out -- Rohde, Peterson. Technical Foul -- HBU team. Turnovers -- HBU 19 (Gonzalez 6), UAA 16 (Walker 5). Assists -- HBU 12 (Moss 3), UAA 21 (D. Robinson 6). Steals -- HBU 7, UAA 6 (C. Robinson 2). Blocks ---HBU 1 (Dixon 1), UAA 5 (Walker 3). Officials -- Casas, Mayberry, McNew.
Houston Baptist 21 46 -- 67
UAA 33 41 -- 74
By BETH BRAGG
bbragg@adn.com