Cold-shooting UAA falls to Hawaii Pacific in men’s basketball home opener

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UAA’s D.J. Ursery looks for room to shoot under his team’s basket. UAA men’s basketball played Hawaii Pacific University on the first day of the Alaska/Hawaii challenge Nov. 10, 2017. (Marc Lester / Alaska Dispatch News)

Dismal shooting in the second half, including a nine-minute scoreless stretch, doomed the UAA men's basketball team in its home opener against Hawaii Pacific on Friday night in the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Sharks cruised past the Seawolves 65-51 on a night where UAA's second half featured 1 of 20 shooting from beyond the arc and a 16.7 field goal percentage.

In the early game, Chaminade defeated UAF 71-58.

"The wheels fell off offensively," said UAA coach Rusty Osborne, whose team features 12 newcomers and just one player who saw the court last season. "It's a group that's just learning to play mentally together. … We're just three games in  and I don't know if we have all 12 of our active guys who are trusting in our system right now."

UAA's lone bright spot was the play of senior forward Jacob Lamkpin, a senior transfer from the University of the Pacific, who recorded a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double and went 4 of 7 from the field and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.

The Seawolves (1-1) flew out to an 18-10 lead in the first half, but the Sharks (1-0) started hitting 3-pointers. They took the lead on a trey by Jonathan Janssen that made it 23-22 with 8:30 to go in the half. Hawaii Pacific led 37-34 at halftime.

UAA scored on a layup by senior guard D.J. Ursery – another University of Pacific transfer – 15 seconds into the second half, but then the Seawolves went on a scoreless streak that lasted 9 minutes and 31 seconds.

UAA didn't score again until a layup by junior forward Brian Pearson made it 49-38 Hawaii Pacific with 10:14 to play. The Sharks led by double digits the rest of the way.

Osborne said his players need to have more trust in the offensive system and make more passes instead of trying to score on their own, but even when they were making good shots, they just weren't going in.

"It happens sometimes and it's more likely to happen here with nine new guys in a system, coming from all kinds of different systems and trying to come together," Osborne said. "Hopefully we can learn form this one tonight."

The Seawolves showed sparks on defense, holding the Sharks without a basket for a six-minute stretch in the second half, but Hawaii Pacific's 40 percent shooting was more than enough to get the win.

The Sharks were led by Niksha Frederico (18 points, 10 rebounds), Janssen (17 points) and David Rowlands (12).

UAA received eight points and four assists from sophomore guard Jack Macdonald of Melbourne, Australia, and eight points from junior guard/forward Josiah Wood, a junior college transfer from Butte College in Oroville, California.

The Seawolves don't have long to dwell on the Friday loss. UAA is back in action against Chaminade at 8 p.m., Thursday, for their second game of the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Hawaii Pacific plays UAF in the early game at 5:30 p.m.

"Hopefully we'll be better tomorrow night," Osborne said. "I know the guys are going to come, they're going to play hard, the coaching staff is going to work hard and try to get them prepared and we're going to show up."