Drew Robinson's stellar play in the final 10 seconds of the first half spurred the UAA men's basketball team to a 73-52 win, its 10th straight, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game against Montana State-Billings at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex on Wednesday night.
With the Seawolves trailing by two points in their conference home-opener, Robinson stole the ball and drew an intentional foul with 9.7 seconds remaining in the first half.
The intentional foul awarded UAA two free throws, followed by possession of the ball. Robinson made one free throw and finished the sequence by drilling a 3-pointer from the left wing as the clock hit zeroes.
"It definitely was a momentum changer," said Robinson.
Until then, it looked as though the Seawolves might be in for a tough night against Billings (3-8, 1-3 GNAC), which used a zone defense to force UAA to shoot from outside.
"We just couldn't make shots," said UAA coach Rusty Osborne.
The Seawolves were 10 of 29 from the floor in the first half, 5 of 15 from beyond the arc, but Osborne said he was happy with the shot selection and knew the shots would eventually fall.
In the second half, the Seawolves kept firing from the perimeter and the shots starting falling for everyone, especially Brandon Walker, who scored 15 of his game-high 21 points after halftime. Walker scored 13 points during a 22-9 run in a span of about 10 minutes that gave UAA a 58-43 lead with seven minutes to go.
"Once he gets going, it lifts the whole team up," said Robinson.
UAA's Taylor Rohde, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, also turned in a strong second half to finish with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Mario Gill, a 6-2 junior guard, finished with nine rebounds and 13 points, with eight of the points coming in the first half and, in part because of Gill's work on the offensive glass. Three of his six first-half rebounds were offensive.
"Thank goodness for Mario Gill," said Osborne. "He was our offense in the first half."
Osborne said strong first-half defense also kept the Seawolves hanging around. They forced nine turnovers in the half and drew three charging calls in the first six minutes of play.
Osborne said there's still a lot to work on before the Seawolves host defending conference champion Seattle Pacific on Saturday. If they win the game, the Seawolves will match the third-longest winning streak in team history. Osborne said the way the team is starting to come together gives them a chance to keep the streak going.
"We're starting to gel," he said.
The addition six games ago of Lonnie Ridgeway, who scored 22 points in a win over Northwest Nazarene last weekend, has been good for the team, Osborne said.
Ridgeway, who had five points and three rebounds Wednesday, provided a highlight-reel block when he chased down a Billings fast break and rejected an attempted layup off the backboard late in the second half.
Find Jeremy Peters online at adn.com/contact/jpeters or call 257-4335.
MSUB (52) -- Sutton 6-7 0-0 13; Myaer 5-10 2-2 13; Chambers 2-7 1-3 7; Mayes 2-5 1-2 5; Barnes 2-7 1-3 5; Young 2-7 0-0 4; Hickman 1-1 1-1 3; Henning 1-2 0-0 2; Trabing 0-1 0-0 0; Totals -- 21-47 6-11 52.
UAA (73) -- Walker 8-14 1-1 21; Rohde 4-7 8-8 16; Gill 5-9 0-1 13; Ridgeway 1-5 2-2 5; C. Robinson 2-7 0-0 5; D. Robinson 1-4 1-2 4; Gibcus 2-2 0-0 4; Thompson 1-2 0-0 3; Fossman 0-0n 2-2 2; White 0-2 0-0 0; Hearn 0-1 0-0 0; Peterson 0-1 0-0 0; Totals -- 24-54 73.
3-point goals -- MSUB, 4-14 (Chambers 2-6, Sutton 1-2, Myaer 1-4, young 0-1, Barnes 0-1); UAA, 11-26 (Walker 4-9, Gill 3-5, Drew 1-2, Thompson 1-2, Ridgeway 1-2). Rebounds -- MSUB, 20 (Chambers, Myaer, 4); UAA, 36 (Gill 9), Assists -- MSUB, 15 (Chambers, Myaer, 5); UAA, 19 (White 6). Blocks -- MSUB, 2; UAA, 3. Steals -- MSUB, 6 (Chambers, 3); UAA, 6 (D. Robinson 2). Total Fouls -- MSUB, 16; UAA, 13. Technical Fouls -- MSUB, none; UAA, none. A -- 607.
MSUB 26 26 -- 52
UAA 28 45 -- 73
By JEREMY PETERS
jpeters@adn.com