On a night when points were hard to come by and leads were tough to keep, Suki Wiggs made perhaps the easiest bucket of the night Thursday — an uncontested, buzzer-beating dunk — to put an exclamation mark on the UAA men's basketball team's 67-63 road win over Saint Martin's.
With 1.8 seconds left and UAA in-bounding the ball under Saint Martin's basket, Corey Hammell fired a long pass to Wiggs, who caught the ball on the run and dunked it a heartbeat before the final buzzer sounded.
Wiggs finished with a game-high 31 points and sank all but one of his 13 free throws to lead the Seawolves, who remained in second place in the GNAC with the victory.
UAA's third-straight win was a hard-fought one. The teams traded the lead 17 times, were tied seven times and neither team ever led by more than six points.
"This was a very gutty win (against) a tough opponent," UAA coach Rusty Osborne said by text.
"I told our team that I believe that SMU is the best team in our league … meaning they are very disciplined in executing their offensive and defensive strategies. They make you beat them. We didn't have the greatest offensive night but we were tough and gritty enough to overcome it and make plays when needed."
UAA (14-5 overall, 8-3 GNAC) never trailed in the final two-and-a-half minutes of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference game in Lacey, Washington.
Wiggs, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, hit a driving layup and the subsequent free throw with 2:29 left to give the Seawolves a 57-55 lead.
After St. Martin's (5-6, 11-8) tied it 57-57 on Cole Preston's layup, the Seawolves took the lead for good on Spencer Svejcar's 15-foot jumper at 1:49.
UAA got the ball right back when Sjur Berg drew an offensive foul from Saint Martin's formidable Fred Jorg, a 7-foot, 300-pound junior.
After the charge by Jorg, Saint Martin's fouled again, putting Wiggs at the line for the double bonus. He made one of two shots for a 60-57 UAA lead with 1:14 left.
The Seawolves sank five of six free throws — two apiece by Wiggs and Diante Mitchell — in the final 30 seconds to seal the win.
Free throw shooting carried the Seawolves, who were 21 of 25 from the foul line. Wiggs, who scored 21 of his points in the second half, was 12 of 13 and Mitchell was 7 of 7.
Svejcar finished with 15 points and Mitchell 13 for UAA. Hammell provided 10 rebounds to help UAA outbound the Saints 35-30.
For Saint Martin's, Jorg finished with 18 points and seven rebounds — his put-backs down the stretch kept things close — and Preston added 19 points.
Both teams were held below their season-average point totals. Coming into the game, UAA was averaging 80 points a game and Saint Martin's was averaging 83.
"I thought that we had a very good defensive game plan and the guys executed it. Even the points scored by Jorg we were willing to live with," Osborne said. "Suki, Spencer and Diante all hit big shots down the stretch and other guys made crucial plays as well, including Sjur drawing a big charge."
The Seawolves, winners of three straight, continue GNAC play Saturday with a game at Seattle Pacific. The Falcons beat the Nanooks of UAF in overtime on Thursday.