Sports

UAA men head into break on winning note

Nothing like a couple of big wins to make an ailing team feel better.

For the second night in a row, the UAA men's basketball team -- losers of three straight games coming into the week -- coasted to victory over Portland Bible College, an Oregon school that plays in National Christian Collegiate Athletics Assocation.

Kalidou Diouf poured in 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds to power the Seawolves to an 80-58 nonconference win Wednesday at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The win sends the Seawolves, who don't play again until New Year's Day, into the holiday break on a high note. That's crucial for a team with several new players whose efforts to gel have been made difficult by injuries.

"It's big," UAA coach Rusty Osborne told Denali Media after the game. "Anytime you're a work in progress you want to get a little reward for your hard work. We have two guys out right now (and that means) other guys are playing positions and more minutes than they're used to."

Diouf, a 6-foot-9 freshman center, hit double figures for the eighth straight game. He was one of five players who scored in double figures for the Seawolves (5-7).

Others included senior Travis Thompson, whose 16 points vaulted him past Jason Kaiser and into sixth place on the team's all-time scoring list, and senior Boomer Blossom, who netted a career-high 12 points.

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Diouf shot 11 of 15 from the field to record his second 20-plus scoring effort; the redshirt freshman from Germany has scored double figures in eight straight games.

Blossom scored seven of his points in an 18-2 run by the Seawolves that buried Portland Bible in a 6.5-minute span in the second half.

Portland Bible, which lost 91-52 on Tuesday, fared better for at least one half Wednesday.

The Wildcats (4-11) led 5-0 and traded leads with UAA several times during the first half, which ended with the Seawolves clinging to a one-point lead, 33-32.

They grabbed their final lead 36-35 on a basket by Mozeek Waggener at the 18:21 mark of the second half. UAA answered with five straight points and Raymon Taylor's 3-pointer pulled Portland Bible within a point 40-39 with 16:54 left, but it was pretty much all Seawolves after that.

A 9-0 run gave UAA a 49-39 lead with 14:12 left, and Thompson's steal and layup at the 11-minute mark triggered an 18-2 run.

Thompson's 16 points gives him 1,368 for his career, moving him past Kaiser, whose 363 points came in two seasons at UAA. The Dimond High grad, who missed a game earlier this month with an ankle injury, added six assists and two steals.

Blossom's 12 points came on 5 of 6 shooting, helping UAA shoot 48.4 percent as a team. Brian McGill, a junior point guard, dished seven assists to go with 10 points and four rebounds, and Kevin Bowman had six assists and two steals.

UAA finished with 25 assists against six turnovers and a 37-25 rebounding advantage.

Portland Bible shot well -- 42.9 percent, including 50 percent in the first half -- and was led by 14 points from Waggener and 13 from Marcellus Gray.

UAA 80, Portland Bible 58

PORTLAND BIBLE (58) -- Mo. Waggener 6-13 2-2 14, Taylor 2-3 0-0 6, Layne 3-11 0-1 9, Gray 4-10 3-3 13, Hoffman 3-6 2-2 8, Oomittuk 1-2 0-0 3, Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Mi. Waggener 2-4 1-3 5. Totals 21-49 8-11 58.

UAA (80) -- Parrish 1-2 0-0 2, Diouf 11-15 0-0 22, McGill 4-9 2-4 10, Thompson 6-12 1-1 16, Bowman 3-8 2-2 11, Leckband 0-4 4-4 4, Berg 0-3 1-2 1, Fain 0-2 0-0 0, Craft 1-1 0-0 2, Blossom 5-6 0-0 12, Pearson 0-0 0-0 0, Mears 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 31-64 10-13 80.

Portland Bible 32 26 -- 58

UAA 33 47 -- 80

3-point goals -- Portland Bible 8-17 (Taylor 2-2, Layne 3-6, Gray 2-5, Hoffman 0-2, Oomittuk 1-2), UAA 8-25 (McGill 0-4, Thompson 3-7, Bowman 3-8, Leckband 0-3, Fain 0-1, Blossom 2-2). Rebounds -- Portland Bible 25 (Taylor 5, Mi. Waggener 5), UAA 37 (Diouf 7). Total fouls -- Portland Bible 11, UAA 16. Fouled out -- none. Assists -- Portland Bible 14 (Layne 5, Hoffman 5), UAA 25 (McGill 7). Turnovers -- Portland Bible 13 (Gray 3), UAA 6 (Bowman 2). Blocks -- Portland Bible 1 (Mo. Waggener), UAA 3 (3 with 1 each). Steals -- Portland Bible 2 (2 with 1 each), UAA 9 (3 with 2 each). A -- 658. Officials -- Gillen, Tovoli, McNew.

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