The UAA men's basketball team escaped with a 65-60 victory over the rival Nanooks in a game that came down to the final seconds Saturday night in Fairbanks.
By eking out the win, the Seawolves ran their winning streak over UAF to 14 games, with seven of those coming at UAF's Patty Center.
Liam Gibcus scored six straight points before fouling out to give UAA its first lead of the second half with a little more than six minutes left, and Kyle Fossman sank four free throws in the final 22 seconds to preserve the win for the Seawolves.
The Seawolves (11-4 overall, 4-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) played without Teancum Stafford, their second-leading scorer who sat out with an injury.
"It was a really great defensive effort from our players," UAA coach Rusty Osborne said in a press release from the school. "They did a great job of overcoming the adversity of missing a key player, with multiple guys stepping up."
The loss ended a six-game winning streak for the Nanooks (10-5 overall, 5-2 GNAC).
UAA leads the all-time series with UAF 71-21, but Mick Durham's improving UAF team nearly turned the tables on the Seawolves.
UAF led 32-25 at the half and by as many as nine points early in the second half before Gibcus sparked UAA's comeback.
UAA made a 10-3 run to make it a two-point game with about 13 minutes left, and it remained a two- or three-possession game for the next several minutes.
Andrew Kelly hit two free throws to give the Nanooks a 53-48 lead with 6:38 left, but Gibcus answered with six straight points — two jumpers, two free throws — to give the Seawolves their first lead of the half, 54-53, with 5:46 left.
A little more than two minutes later, Gibcus left the game with his fifth personal foul and a game-high 18 points.
UAA never trailed after that. Abebe Demissie's
3-pointer at 3:16 and his free throw at 2:23 stretched the UAA lead to 60-54, but the Nanooks twice narrowed the gap to two points after that.
Pat Voeut's jumper for UAF with 1:06 left cut the lead to four points and his free throws with 23 seconds left made it 60-58.
A second later, Fossman hit two free throws for a 62-58 UAA lead.
With 16 seconds left, Voeut hit another jumper to again make it a two-point game.
Two more free throws by Fossman gave UAA a 64-60 lead and some breathing room with 11 seconds left. With one second left, Colton Lauwers hit one of two free throws for the final margin.
Fossman finished with 11 points and Demissie turned in a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, helping the Seawolves to a healthy 40-29 advantage on the boards.
Voeut led the Nanooks with 14 points and eight assists. Ronnie Baker added 15 points.
UAA (65) — Gibcus 8-14 2-3 18; Demissie 4-8 7-8 17; Fossman 3-10 4-6 11; MacKelvie 3-5 0-2 7; Lauwers 2-4 1-2 6; Little 1-4 0-2 3; Leckband 1-2 0-0 3; Spickerman 0-2 0-0 0; Heard 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-50 14-23 65.
UAF (60) — Baker 6-10 2-4 15; Voeut 4-9 5-7 14; Brinson 3-6 2-3 9; Kelly 3-6 2-4 8; Pucar 3-7 0-2 7; Tica 2-7 0-0 5; Bills 1-5 0-1 2; Ngawaka 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-52 11-21 60.
UAA 25 40 — 65
UAF 32 28 — 60
3-point goals — UAA 7-14 (Demissie 2-4; Lauwers 1-2; MacKelvie 1-1; Fossman 1-2; Leckband 1-2; Little 1-3), UAF 5-15 (Brinson 1-4; Tica 1-4; Pucar 1-3; Voeut 1-2; Baker 1-2). Total fouls — UAA 19, UAF 22. Fouled out — Gibcus, Kelly. Rebounds — UAA 40 (Demissie 10), UAF 29 (Kelly 8). Assists — UAA 12 (Gibcus 6), UAF 16 (Voeut 8). Turnovers — UAA 20 (MacKelvie 5), UAF 17 (Brinson 4). Steals — UAA 7 (three players with 2 each), UAF 9 (Kelly 3, Baker 3). Blocked shots — UAA 1 (Demissie), UAF 3 (Kelly 3). A — 1,128.
Anchorage Daily News