All that noise the Seawolves men's basketball team generated with four straight conference wins in the back half of February is muted now.
And there's no getting it back.
UAA, which twice dispatched Western Oregon in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular season, could not repeat the feat Wednesday and ended its season with a 94-88 defeat in the opening round of the conference tournament in Lacey, Wash.
The Seawolves in both regular season games against the Wolves buried their opponent in a deluge of 3-pointers, knocking down 19 of 39 in a 92-58 road win in January and a jaw-dropping 27 of 41 in a 96-77 home win last month. In all, UAA shot 56.3 percent from the field in those victories.
While the Seawolves shot well again Wednesday -- 56.7 percent from the field, including 54.2 percent from distance -- they made just 13 3-pointers.
And they ran up against a hot-shooting team that matched them at their own game. The Wolves shot 53.6 percent from the field and hit half their 3-point attempts for 13 baskets from beyond the arc.
On top of that, Western Oregon (18-11) got to the free-throw line nearly three times as often as UAA (17-13). The Wolves sank 21 of 31 free throws, UAA 7 of 11.
Western Oregon got career performances from two players. Senior Rodney Webster, who totaled 31 points in the two regular-season losses to UAA, went off for a career-high 30 points, double his average. Sophomore Jordan Wiley backed that up by draining seven 3-pointers on the way to a career-high 24 points, nearly triple his average.
Kyle Fossman of Haines led UAA with 27 points in his final college game, and added five rebounds. Teancum Stafford delivered 18 points and six boards in his final turn in green and gold. Travis Thompson furnished the Seawolves 17 points and four assists, and Brian McGill, a transfer from Western Oregon, added 12 points and five assists. Colton Lauwers of Anchorage closed his UAA career with four points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
The fourth-seeded Seawolves pushed out to a 19-10 lead in the first half, but trailed 44-38 at the break.
The fifth-seeded Wolves, who Thursday face top-seeded Seattle Pacific (24-5), pulled away in the final five minutes.
After opening February with three straight conference losses, the Seawolves turned things around with those four straight league wins.
Yet they endured a road heartbreaker last Saturday night -- UAF beat them at the buzzer -- and Wednesday they were knocked out in their GNAC opener for the second straight season at Marcus Pavilion.
Nanooks advance
Four players scored in double figures for UAF in a 69-59 win over MSU-Billings.
Joe Slocum led UAF (18-10) with 15 points, Andrew Kelly added 14 points and six rebounds, Stefan Tica contributed 13 points and eight rebounds, and Sergej Pucar chipped in 12 points and six rebounds.
The Nanooks, who led nearly all the way, on Thursday face second-seeded Western Washington (19-7).
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WOU (94) -- Thomas 0-1 0-0 0, Avgi 3-5 4-5 10, Alexander 1-6 2-2 5, Johnson 2-3 3-4 9, Wiley 7-13 3-4 24, Webster 12-18 3-5 30, Hastings 0-1 1-4 1, Dupree-Turner 0-2 0-2 0, Schriber 2-2 2-2 6, Sarhan 3-5 3-3 9. Totals 30-56 21-31 94.
UAA (88) -- McGill 4-7 4-4 12, Thompson 7-10 1-2 17, Lauwers 2-5 0-0 4, Stafford 6-12 1-3 18, Fossman 10-18 1-2 27, Leckband 1-1 0-0 2, Baisa 0-0 0-0 0, Blossom 1-1 0-0 2, Mears 2-5 0-0 4, McTier 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 34-60 7-11 88.
WOU 44 50 -- 94
UAA 38 50 -- 88
3-point goals -- WOU 13 (Alexander 1-5, Johnson 2-3, Wiley 7-12, Webster 3-6), UAA 13 (McGill 0-1, Thompson 2-3, Lauwers 0-1, Stafford 5-8, Fossman 6-11). Team fouls -- WOU 14, UAA 22. Fouled out -- McGill. Turnovers -- WOU 13 (Avgi 4, Webster 4), UAA 14 (Fossman 5). Blocks -- WOU 2 (Avgi 2), UAA 2 (Mears 1, Stafford 1). Steals -- WOU 7 (Alexander 2, Johnson 2), UAA 5 (Lauwers 3). A -- 216. Officials -- Somers, Crider, Bernatz.
By DOYLE WOODY