The Seawolves took a big step toward postseason play Tuesday night at the expense of their neighbors to the north.
The UAA men’s basketball team got a career-high 23 points from Tobin Karlberg and shot 58.6% to beat UAF 94-81 in Fairbanks, gaining an edge in the battle for spots in the six-team conference tournament.
The victory gives UAA (17-11 overall, 10-7 GNAC) sole possession of fifth place in the 11-team GNAC with three games left in the regular season. The Nanooks (10-15, 9-8) slipped to sixth place.
Seattle Pacific (15-1 GNAC) is the only team to clinch a tournament berth so far, and seven teams are in the mix for five remaining spots. Western Oregon, Northwest Nazarene and Western Washington are logjammed in second place with 10-6 records, half a game ahead of UAA. They all have four games left.
Also in contention for conference playoff berths are UAF, seventh-place Central Washington (8-8) and eighth-place Simon Fraser (7-9).
Tuesday’s win was the third in a row for the Seawolves, who used exceptional shooting to outduel UAF. They were 34 of 58 from the field, including 15 of 29 (51.7%) from 3-point range.
The Nanooks answered with 52.6% shooting and a stellar effort from Shadeed Shabazz, who supplied 25 points, 12 assists, five steals and four rebounds.
Five players scored in double figures for UAA, which led by two at the half but by as many as 19 in the second half.
Karlberg’s 23 points came on 8-of-16 shooting and were supplemented by eight rebounds and six assists. Jack Macdonald was 7 of 10 for 19 points, Oggie Pantovic was 7 of 9 for 17, Niko Bevens was 5 of 8 for 15 and Tyrus Hosley was 5 of 10 for 15.
Bevens sank 5 of 6 shots from 3-point range, and Karlberg, Macdonald and Hosley each drained three triples. Hosley added seven rebounds and six assists.
“We made some nice defensive adjustments at halftime and continued to run our offense efficiently and take advantage of the good looks we were getting,” UAA coach Rusty Osborne said in a release from the school. “Even when Oggie picked up his third foul early in the second half, our ‘smaller’ lineup did a great job of expanding the lead."
The Seawolves will try to extend their winning streak Saturday when they play their final home game of the season at 5:15 p.m. against Montana State-Billings.
This week also marks the final regular-season home games for the UAA women, the seventh-ranked team in the nation. The Seawolves host Simon Fraser at 7 p.m. Thursday and Western Washington at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center.