Tyrus Hosley sank two 3-pointers in a 15-second span late in the game Saturday night to power UAA past Northern Michigan 84-76 in a nonconference men’s basketball game at the Alaska Airlines Center.
Hosley, a 6-foot-1 senior transfer, made his big shots with less than three minutes remaining to quash Northern Michigan’s comeback bid in the final game of the four-team Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic.
The Wildcats were trying to become the second team in a row to rally past UAA, which fell victim to a Michigan Tech comeback on Friday, 83-80. Michigan Tech defeated UAF 65-57 on Saturday.
UAA upped its record 6-2 behind Tyler Brimhall’s 17 points and eight rebounds and Niko Bevens’ 16 points. Jack Macdonald came off the bench for 11 points, DeAndre Osuigwe tallied 10 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals, and Oggie Pantovic added 10 points.
“It’s encouraging to see that we got contributions up and down the lineup,” UAA coach Rusty Osborne said in a release from the school.
Hosley finished with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range. Two of his triples came in the final 2:21 shortly after Northern Michigan had made it a one-possession game.
The Seawolves led 46-31 at the half — they got 3-pointers from seven players that half — and were up 72-63 with 4:30 left in the game.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Northern Michigan cut UAA’s lead to 72-69 with three minutes left. With 2:53 to go, Bevens made two free throws to make it 74-69 and then went to the bench when Hosley checked into the game.
Osuigwe rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Northern Michigan to get the ball back for UAA, and with the shot clock running out Hosley fired from long-range. The ball hit the rim and the backboard before going through the net for a 77-69 UAA lead.
Fifteen seconds later, Hosley netted another 3-pointer with 2:02 remaining to diffuse the Wildcats’ comeback.
“After we started so hot, I think we began to allow some of our misses to affect our defense on the other end, and that’s what allowed them to get back in it,” Osborne said. “Thankfully we were able to execute on some key possessions in the final minutes and hang on for a good win over a tough team.”
UAA opens conference play on Thursday with a home game against Concordia-Portland. Tipoff is 7:30 p.m.
Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic
Friday’s games
Michigan Tech 83, UAA 80
Northern Michigan 95, UAF 45
Saturday’s games
UAA 84, Northern Michigan 76
Michigan Tech 65, UAF 57
All-tournament team
Niko Bevens, UAA
Tyler Brimhall, UAA
Alec Fruin, Northern Michigan
Tommy Lucca, Michigan Tech
Oggie Pantovic, UAA
Most Outstanding Player — Kyle Monroe, Michigan Tech