Chris Bryant made the best impression among the new faces.
McCade Olsen shined in his new role.
And the 16th-ranked Seawolves made mincemeat of NCAA Division II newcomer Brevard College at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
Ignited by a dynamite beginning, the UAA men's basketball team cruised to an 80-53 victory to open the season Friday night. A near-sellout home crowd of 1,202 had plenty to cheer about as the Seawolves overcame a sloppy ending to give coach Rusty Osborne his 50th career win.
Bryant, the former all-state guard from Metlakatla who transferred to UAA this year from Division I Drake University, sparkled in his green and gold debut. The 6-foot-4 senior absorbed an offensive charge, drained his first two three-pointers and finished with 16 points as his high school coach watched from the stands.
"I couldn't be any happier," he said. "I guess at first I was a little jittery, but coach (Osborne) just said, 'Let it come to you. Be patient.' I listened to him and individually I had some success."
Olsen, a 6-8 senior veteran who started just once in 23 games last season, was in the starting lineup and sparked UAA's quick start by netting 10 of the team's first 19 points. He finished with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting and matched his career-high of nine rebounds.
Early on, Olsen dominated the post by attacking the basket. He had three layups and went 4 for 4 from the free-throw line to help the Seawolves build a 19-9 cushion.
"It was nice to start. It just shows that they've got trust in me," Olsen said. "It doesn't really bother me if I don't start, it's just kind of nice when I do."
It may have been a new role, but Olsen went back to the same hairdo he had when he enjoyed an incredible debut at last year's Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout, averaging 16 points in three games against Loyola Marymount, Missouri-Kansas City and Hofstra.
"The long hair's back," he said with a grin.
UAA also got strong performances from returning players Cameron Burney (12 points) and Luke Cooper (nine assists) on a night when senior all-conference forward Carl Arts was uncharacteristically off his game.
Early on, Arts missed his first seven shots, took an elbow to the face while grabbing a rebound and whiffed on a high five from teammate Jeremiah Trueman.
The 6-6 player-of-the-year candidate in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference still managed to lead the team in points (20), rebounds (13) and steals (3). The Valdez native sank 7 of his final 12 shots, including 3 of 5 three-pointers.
Osborne chalked up his star's slow start to opening night.
"Everybody was just a little half-step too quick tonight, just trying so hard," he said. "When's the last time Carl went 7 for 19? And good shots?"
The Seawolves opened the second half on a 15-0 run to extend their lead to 53-16, with Burney connecting on three straight three-point bombs. From there, though, the visiting Tornados (0-2) -- who are some 4,300 miles from their North Carolina campus -- outscored heavily favored UAA 37-27.
It was hardly the type of finish Osborne expected from his nationally ranked squad, which is less than a week from facing the Bob Knight-coached Texas Tech Red Raiders in the first round of the Shootout.
"We've just got to get more disciplined in our approach for 40 minutes because the teams we're playing all year, it's too competitive," he said. "We've got to play these guys again (tonight). They had a lot of success in the last 10 minutes. I'm sure they're gonna come out and compete. We've got to get ourselves prepared."
Find Daily News assistant sports editor Van Williams online at adn.com/contact/vwilliams or call 257-4335.
UAA (80) -- Arts 7-19 3-4 20; Olsen 7-12 4-4 18; Bryant 6-10 0-0 16; Burney 4-5 0-0 12; Cooper 2-5 2-2 6; Trueman 2-5 0-0 4; Ridgeway 2-3 0-0 4; Kettler 0-0 0-0 0; Voreis 0-4 0-0 0; Hardy 0-1 0-2 0; White 0-6 0-0 0. Totals: 30-70 9-12 80.
Brevard College (53) -- Whitson 7-14 1-2 16; Siniard 3-4 3-4 11; Galloway 2-8 0-0 5; Ferretti 0-2 5-8 5; Lance 1-2 1-2 4; Young 1-3 1-3 4; Chilton 1-5 2-2 4; Freeman 1-7 0-0 2; Taraldsen 1-2 0-1 2; Babic 0-0 0-2 0; Tanner 0-0 0-0 0; Galloway 0-1 0-0 0; Benson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-48 13-24 53.
Three-point goals -- UAA 11-27 (Burney 4-4, Bryant 4-6, Arts 3-6, Ridgeway 0-1, Hardy 0-1, White 0-4, Cooper 0-2, Olsen 0-3); Brevard College 6-22 (Siniard 2-3, Young 1-2, Lance 1-2, Whitson 1-1, Galloway,Shane 1-6, Galloway 0-1, Freeman 0-4, Chilton 0-3). Fouled out -- Brevard College - Ferretti, Galloway, Freeman, Chilton, Whitson, Benson, Siniard; UAA - Hardy, Burney, Ridgeway, Voreis, Trueman, Bryant, Olsen, White, Arts, Cooper, Kettler.
Rebounds -- UAA 46 (Arts 13); Brevard College 27 (Whitson 6, Freeman 6). Assists -- UAA 20 (Cooper 9); Brevard College 13 (Chilton 3, Whitson 3). Total fouls -- UAA 29; Brevard College 14. Officials -- Lujan, Corson, Mar. A --1,202
UAA 38 42 -- 80
Brevard 16 37 -- 53
