UAA Athletics

With two key players injured, UAA men fall to 16th-ranked Western Oregon

With its best player sitting on the bench with his foot in a walking boot and another starter limited by a head injury, the UAA men's basketball team couldn't generate the offense needed Sunday to keep pace with 16th-ranked Western Oregon.

The Wolves hammered UAA 82-50 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game in Monmouth, Oregon.

The Seawolves (6-5 overall, 2-1 GNAC) played without 6-foot-9 senior center Jacob Lampkin, the team's leading scorer and rebounder who is out indefinitely with an apparent foot injury.

They played the first half and much of the second half without 6-4 senior guard D.J. Ursery, their second-leading scorer and rebounder. Ursery, who was injured in a Dec. 5 exhibition game against Cal Miramar, played 10 minutes in the second half and provided seven points on 3-of-5 shooting.

With Lampkin out and Ursery limited, UAA's offense suffered. The Seawolves scored 14 field goals – eight in the first half, six in the second half — and shot 27.5 percent.

Western Oregon (10-1, 2-1) shot a sizzling 66 percent, including 69.2 percent in the first half when it grabbed a 43-26 lead.

Brian Pearson, one of two UAA players who made their first starts in the absence of Lampkin and Ursery, provided a bright spot for the Seawolves.

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The 6-9 junior center played 32 minutes and came through with a career-high 16 points and eight rebounds, improving on his previous bests of six points and five rebounds.

Also earning his first start was freshman forward Eric Jenkins of Anchorage, who managed four rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes.

"This was a great learning experience for our young guys against a senior-laden team," UAA coach Rusty Osborne said in a press release. "Without Jacob and D.J. we were missing a lot of firepower and guys were stepping into new roles. We will look at the film and get better.

Pearson was the only UAA player in double figures. The next-highest point totals came from Ursery and Malik Clements, who came off the bench to supply seven points and four rebounds in 15 minutes.

Ursery missed one game with a concussion but looked good during his brief return, Osborne said.

"We were able to get D.J. a few minutes late and he showed no symptoms from his concussion, which is a positive sign," he said.

Coming into the game, Ursery was averaging 11 points and 4.8 rebounds a game.

Lampkin is averaging 15.1 points and 9.7 rebounds and had delivered double-doubles in seven of UAA's first 10 games – the third-most in NCAA Division II this season.

Vince Boumann dropped in 15 points to lead Western Oregon, which also got double figures from Ali Faruq-Bey (12 points) and Tanner Omlid (10), whose contributions included three blocked shots, five rebounds and three assists.

The Wolves outrebounded UAA 33-28 and had 10 steals.

UAA was at its best at the foul line, where it sank 18 of 22 free throws. Three players were perfect from the line – Pearson (6 of 6), Drew Peterson (5 of 5) and Brennan Rymer (2 of 2). Rymer, a freshman guard, played twice as much as usual – 18 minutes – and had four of UAA's five steals plus a team-high three assists.

The Seawolves play their final game before the holiday break on Tuesday, when they meet conference opponent Concordia-Portland in a 2 p.m. AST game.

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