UAA Athletics

UAA rally comes up short against No. 6 Western Oregon men

Sixth-ranked Western Oregon held off a late rally by the UAA men's basketball team 72-62 Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center to grab its 12th straight victory.

Tanner Omlid, a 6-foot-4 senior forward and the conference's preseason Player of the Year, piled up 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks in 33 minutes for the Wolves.

The win gives Western Oregon sole possession of first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Wolves are 19-1 overall and 11-1 in the conference.

UAA (9-11, 5-7) had a poor first half and a terrific second half. The Seawolves turned the ball over nine times and were limited to six baskets and a 27.3 shooting percentage in the first half to trail 31-19.

In the second half, they shot 65 percent and limited their turnovers to four to make a run at the Wolves.

Western Oregon increased its lead to 21 points in the first five minutes of the second half before the Seawolves got hot.

In a stretch of about nine minutes, UAA outscored Western Oregon 29-13 to come within five points, 61-56 with six minutes left, but they weren't able to close the gap entirely.

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Four players scored in double figures for UAA. Drew Peterson drained four of five 3-point attempts to score a career-high 15 points, Malik Clements added 14 and D.J. Ursery and Brian Pearson chipped in 10 apiece.

Ursery added five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block and Brennan Rymer came off the bench to hand out five assists during 20 turnover-free minutes.

The Seawolves continue conference play with road games Thursday against Seattle Pacific and Saturday against Saint Martin's

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