Including exhibition games, the UAA men's basketball team had played more than twice as many games (13) as its Saturday foe, Northwest Nazarene (6), going into the matchup at the Alaska Airlines Center. The fresher Crusaders still failed to keep up with the Seawolves.
UAA improved to 2-0 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play and 8-4 on the season with its 90-78 win over NNU (3-2, 0-2) on the back of a trio of transfers.
Diante Mitchell, a guard from Western Nebraska Community College, led UAA with 24 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the field. Guard Suki Wiggs, a Division I Idaho transfer, added his customary 23 points along with 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Double-double machine Corey Hammell, from Santa Rosa Junior College, scored 17 points and a whopping 17 rebounds from his forward spot. Hammell was perfect from the 3-point line (2 of 2) and the free-throw line (5 of 5).
"Starting well in conference with a new group like this is great," said UAA coach Rusty Osborne in a TV interview after the game. "It's been a long month for us. … It will be good to have a good eight or nine days off before we play again."
Hammell's first 3 tied the game at 5-5 and UAA led for most of the rest of the half. NNU stuck around, trailing by two with nine minutes left in the first period, but a Christian Leckband jumper sparked an 18-2 run and the Seawolves entered the locker room with a comfortable 44-28 lead.
The pesky Crusaders stuck around in the second half and fought back within five points with steady scoring led Detwon Rogers, who finished with 24 points. The 6-foot-7 forward nailed two free throws to make the score 78-73 with 3:20 remaining. That was as close as NNU got at a comeback.
The final couple minutes of the game turned into a waiting game. The officials spent several minutes reviewing and even more time discussing a foul that ended with UAA's Taylor Thompson and NNU's Bouna N'Diaye sprawled on the court.
The consensus came with both players shooting technical fouls — and missing three out of four of them.
More than a few fouls and free throws later, the clock finally hit zero and UAA walked off the court with the 12-point victory in the anticlimactic ending to the contest.
The Seawolves shot better than 50-percent from the field for the second straight game in the win. UAA shot better from beyond the arc (42.9 percent) than NNU did from anywhere on the court (42.6 percent).
After playing 14 games in 36 days, the Seawolves finally get a nine-day break before hosting Northwest Indian on Dec. 14.