UAA Athletics

A challenging 8-day stretch begins with a bruising loss for the UAA men’s basketball team

A busy two weeks of travel got off to a rocky start Thursday for the UAA men’s basketball team.

Central Washington shocked the Seawolves 84-50 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game that matched third-place UAA against Central Washington, the 10th-place team in the 11-team conference.

It was all Wildcats from start to finish. They outshot the Seawolves 48.3% to 31.6% and outrebounded them 47-29. Central Washington’s bench accounted for 39 points to nearly outscored the entire UAA lineup.

“Credit goes to CWU,” UAA coach Rusty Osborne said in a release from the school. “We did not play well in any phase of the game.”

Marqus Gilson led Central Washington with 18 points and eight rebounds, and four others scored in double figures, including Tariq Woody, who had 13 points and six rebounds.

Niko Bevens led UAA with 15 points, and Oggie Pantovic pitched in 10 points and six rebounds.

UAA slipped to 11-7 overall and 4-3 in conference play. Central Washington improved to 9-6, 2-5.

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The game was the start of an eight-day stretch that will see the Seawolves play four games in four states. They head to Nampa, Idaho, for a Saturday game against Northwest Nazarene, then they return to Anchorage for a Tuesday game against UAF, followed by a Thursday game in Montana against Montana State-Billings.

Even before the game, the Seawolves encountered difficulties. They flew to Seattle late Wednesday night and on the drive east to Ellensburg, they were stuck on I-90 for two hours due to an accident. After learning the highway would be closed for another two hours, they retreated and found a restaurant where they waited for the road to open.

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