UAA Athletics

Western Washington overpowers UAA men for 10th straight hoops victory

A Western Washington team led by a 7-foot center was too much for UAA Saturday night at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Vikings remained undefeated in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play by holding off UAA 70-61 for their 10th straight victory.

Logan Schilder, a 7-foot junior, was part of a balanced attack with 15 points and nine rebounds, including three dunks that kept UAA at bay midway through the second half.

The Vikings used their size to block nine shots and outrebound UAA 42-30.

Western Washington (15-3 overall, 10-0 GNAC) got 15 points and 10 rebounds from 6-6 junior Trey Drechsel, 13 points and five blocks from 6-7 sophomore Daulton Hommes and 10 points from 6-6 junior Siaan Rojas.

A nine-minute scoreless stretch by UAA allowed the Vikings to grab a 28-20 halftime lead. The Seawolves led 18-16 on a Josiah Wood basket with 9:08 left in the half, but they didn't score again until Jack Macdonald hit two free throws with one second left.

D.J. Ursery topped UAA (8-10, 4-6) with 16 points and five rebounds. Wood and Kylan Osborne chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively, and Brennan Rymer had six assists against no turnovers and added two steals.

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"I thought our effort was there, but we just couldn't get our shots to go down at the end of the first half, and that turned out to be the difference," UAA coach Rusty Osborne said in a press release.

UAA made a run at the Vikings in the second half, cutting the lead to 40-37 on Macdonald's bucket at the 12-minute mark of the second half. The Vikings answered with three straight dunks by Schilder to surge to a 46-37 lead.

With 55 seconds left, the Seawolves sliced the lead to eight points with three straight free throws following a personal foul and technical foul by Schilder. Wood hit a layup to make it a two-possession game, 64-58, with 44 seconds left.

The Seawolves put the Vikings at the foul line right after that, and Hommes came through by hitting both of his shots for a 66-58 Western Washington lead. UAA's next possession ended with a block by Trevor Jasinsky that helped set up a Rojas basket that gave the Vikings a 10-point lead with 18 seconds left.

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