The UAA men's basketball team bounced back twice Saturday.
Two days after its nine-game winning streak ended with a loss to nationally ranked Western Oregon, the Seawolves rebounded with a 90-71 win over Concordia University in Portland.
In order to get the win, UAA had to recover from a narrow deficit midway through the second half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference game.
The Seawolves (16-5 overall, 9-1 GNAC) were down 63-61 with less than nine minutes to play, but outscored Concordia 29-8 the rest of the way.
Fueled by a huge double-double from forward Corey Hammell and some pivotal heroics from guard Suki Wiggs, the victory kept the Seawolves atop the conference standings. UAA and Western Oregon are both 9-1 at the halfway point of the GNAC season.
"We were a little sloppy early, coming off a big game and playing a team a little down in the standings," UAA coach Rusty Osborne said. "We didn't respect them as much as we could have, and when we got the lead, we relaxed a little more.
"… I'm glad that we were resilient and able to withstand what they did and stretch it out at the end."
Hammell, a 6-foot-6 junior forward, racked up 19 points and 17 rebounds, tying the school record for rebounds in a conference game.
Hammell had 17 boards in a December win over Northwest Nazarene, and Peter Bullock twice grabbed 17 rebounds in GNAC games. On Saturday, eight of his rebounds came on the offensive end, including some that he put back for baskets. The all-time single-game rebounding record is 24 by Bo Jackson in 1978 against Texas.
"He's one of the best rebounders who's ever played in our program, and he continues to show that," Osborne said. "He's gonna have a ton of games like that this year and next year."
A put-back by Hammell was part of an 8-0 run that erased Concordia's 63-61 lead midway through the second half.
Wiggs, who scored a game-high 24 points, got things going with a basket that tied the game at the 8:24 mark. Right after that he got a steal and turned into a dunk to put UAA in the lead for good, 65-63.
Then he blocked a shot, and teammate Diante Mitchell came up with the ball. Diante shot and missed and Hammell got the rebound and the put-back. A pair of free throws by Brian McGill gave UAA a 69-63 lead.
The lead grow from there. Concordia (5-12, 3-7) went the final 5:54 of the game without a field goal and then final 4:16 without a point.
"We found a lineup that got into a groove against their zone and we were able to get good looks," Osborne said.
Wiggs finished with seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Hammell hit 9 of 10 free throws to lead UAA's 22-of-27 showing at the foul line, and McGill finished with 17 points, three assists and two steals. Tayler Thompson added 11 points.
Latrell Wilson and Drew Martin led league-newcomer Concordia with 23 and 21 points, respectively.
The Seawolves are back home this week for a Thursday night game against Saint Martin's and a Saturday afternoon game against Seattle Pacific.