With a week's worth of games against Division I teams fast approaching, the UAA men's basketball team rolled to its third straight victory Sunday with an effort that produced lots of big, impressive numbers and one small one that the Seawolves would love to duplicate at next week's Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.
UAA tied a school record for fewest turnovers, giving away the ball just four times in a 90-73 win over Holy Names University in a nonconference game at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
The Seawolves (5-1) shot the ball almost as well as they protected it, hitting a season-high 53.3 percent of their attempts for the game and 62.5 percent for the second half, when they pulled away from the Pacific West Conference team from Oakland, Calif.
No one was hotter than sophomore guard Brian McGill, who buried 10 of 14 shots and hit all four of his free throws for 26 points. He added five assists and a steal without committing a turnover in 35 minutes of action.
Matching McGill's 26 points was junior guard Travis Thompson, who is enjoying a hot streak of his own.
In his last four games -- a streak that began a week ago Sunday with a career-high 32 points against Cal State-Dominguez Hills -- Thompson has racked up 111 points, an average of 27.7 per game. Against Holy Names, he hit 9 of 20 shots, including 5 of 13 from 3-point range, to bring his season total to 140 points in six games (23.3 ppg).
UAA grabbed an early 12-2 lead only to see Holy Names (0-4) recover. The Hawks trailed 37-33 at the half and tied the game twice in the second half, the last time at 52-52 with 13:30 remaining.
A layup by Christian Leckband and a 3-pointer by McGill triggered a 14-4 UAA run that ended with nine straight points by Thompson, who scored two traditional three-point plays and drilled a 3-pointer to make it 66-56 with 9:43 to go. UAA's lead never dipped to single digits after that.
Joshua Crum and Dante Robinson led Holy Names; Crum had a team-high 18 points and Robinson provided 16 points and seven rebounds.
Joining McGill and Thompson in double figures for UAA was Kyle Fossman, who scored 16 points to go along with a career-high eight assists and two steals. Colton Lauwers got his first start of the season and responded with nine points, a career-high nine rebounds and four assists.
UAA's four turnovers tied the school record, set in 2008 against Montana State-Billings and equaled in 2011 against Seattle Pacific.
If there was a downside for the Seawolves, it was losing the rebound battle 28-27. That continued a season-long trend for UAA, which on average is being outrebounded by 3.3 boards per game.
UAA will need all the rebounds it can get when it returns to action next week at Sullivan Arena for three straight games against Division I opponents. The Seawolves open play Wednesday, Nov. 27, with a game against Texas Christian.
HOLY NAMES (73) -- Robinson 6-10 0-0 16, Vernaza 4-11 2-4 10, Crum 8-11 2-2 18, Dorn 2-5 2-2 6, Dale 2-2 0-0 4, Watkins 2-3 0-0 5, Ong 0-2 0-0 0, Perry 5-8 2-2 12, Kasim 1-1 0-0 2, Clark 0-0 0-0 0, Swayne 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-53 8-10 73.
UAA (90) -- Lauwers 3-5 0-0 9, McTier 0-0 2-4 2, McGill 10-14 4-4 26, Thompson 9-20 3-4 26, Fossman 6-13 0-1 16, Leckband 3-5 0-0 7, Baisa 0-0 0-0 0, Mears 1-3 2-4 4. Totals 32-60 11-17 90.
Holy Names 33 40 -- 73
UAA 37 53 -- 90
3-pointers -- Holy Names 5-9 (Robinson 4-6, Watkins 1-2, Ong 0-1), UAA 15-34 (Lauwers 3-5, McGill 2-3, Thompson 5-13, Fossman 4-10, Leckband 1-3). Rebounds -- Holy Names 28 (Robinson 7), UAA 27 (Lauwers 9). Total fouls -- Holy Names 16, UAA 13. Fouled out -- none. Assists -- Holy Names 20 (Dorn 5), UAA 22 (Fossman 8). Turnovers -- Holy Names 12, UAA 4 (Fossman 2). Blocks -- UAA 2 (Mears 2). Steals -- Holy Names 1, UAA 5 (Thompson 2, Fossman 2). Officials -- McNew, Conley, Tovoli.
Anchorage Daily News