Sports

UAA men bounce back to beat Crusaders

With their point guard back in the lineup and their free throws finding the net, the Seawolves bounced back Saturday for a 67-57 men's basketball victory over Northwest Nazarene.

Buoyed by an Alaska Airlines Center crowd of 1,843, UAA held off the Crusaders to stay in the mix in the competitive Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Seawolves are tied for fourth place in the conference with Northwest Nazarene, two games behind league-leading Western Oregon.

The Seawolves (10-9 overall, 6-3 GNAC) sank 18 of 20 free throws in the second half to keep NNU (8-11, 6-3) at bay. They were 20 of 22 from the line for the game, an effort led by senior guard Travis Thompson, who hit 8 of 9.

Thompson scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Seawolves. All-conference point guard Brian McGill, who missed Thursday's loss to Central Washington with a sprained ankle, returned to provide 11 points and four assists.

Dom Hunter added 13 points and four assists, and just as he did on Thursday, he drilled a 3-pointer right before the halftime buzzer to send UAA into the locker room with a 30-26 lead and some momentum.

The Seawolves opened the second half with a 13-4 run that included 11 unanswered points. But the Crusaders battled back and twice drew within three points in the final five minutes.

Nine players registered rebounds and eight recorded points for UAA. Brad Mears, a 6-foot-10 senior making his first start of the season, grabbed a team-high six boards to help UAA eke out a 36-34 rebounding advantage. Four of Mears' rebounds came on the offensive end.

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The Crusaders, who got 16 points from Erik Kinney and 12 from Matyas Hering, were hurt by 18 turnovers. Six players had one steal apiece for the Seawolves.

UAA goes on the road this week for games against Western Washington and Simon Fraser, which both sit below the Seawolves in the conference standings. Western Oregon leads the GNAC at 8-1, Seattle Pacific and Central Washington are tied for second place at 7-2, followed by UAA and NNU at 6-3.

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