Hometown heroes help UAA men’s basketball team head into 2023 on a hot streak

After dropping the first two games of December, the University of Alaska Anchorage men’s basketball team is headed into 2023 on its longest winning streak of the season.

The suddenly surging Seawolves won their third straight game Saturday and notched their first victory over a Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent by besting in-state rival University of Alaska Fairbanks 81-59 on New Year’s Eve.

“It feels really good, especially with this being our first win in conference,” senior Da’Zhon Wyche said.

The game marked the first meeting between the two teams this season and the first since the Nanooks ended the Seawolves’ 2021-22 season by handing them a defeat in the 2022 GNAC Tournament.

Wyche of West Anchorage fame and junior guard Jaron Williams, a former Bettye Davis East high star, were the team’s leading scorers on Saturday and the only two players on the team to reach double figures in points.

“The guys from last year really wanted to win this game, and for the in-state kids — it’s Fairbanks, so us being from Anchorage or the Valley like Luke (Devine), we just wanted to make sure we got this win for Anchorage,” Wyche said.

The resounding victory over the Nanooks was the team’s third in lopsided fashion within the past four days. The Seawolves carried the momentum from sweeping Portland Bible College Arrows in a two-game series in the last nonconference action of their schedule. The win featured another explosive offensive outing to go along with a strong defensive performance.

“When you’re off eight days like we were and limited practice during finals, you get out of game condition and you can only do so much in practice,” UAA head coach Rusty Osborne said. “Playing those games, even though they were blowouts, allowed us to get in and get some game conditioning.”

Wyche, a graduate transfer, recorded a game-high 24 points and was especially proficient from behind the arc, where he went 4-for-6 on 3-pointers.

“They’re a big part of our team,” Osborne said of the local duo. “Da’Zhon is an older senior and has been helping us all year, and Ronnie (Jaron) is starting to come into his own.”

It was Williams’ second double-digit scoring effort in the past three games as he has started to find his groove. He finished with 16 points Saturday.

“It takes a while when you transfer to figure out your role within team and get the confidence in what the coaches want you to do,” Osborne said. “You’re starting to see Ronnie start to relax and things are starting to pay off for him.”

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UAA trailed for just 24 seconds after UAF’s eventual leading scorer on the night, Tyler Mrus, scored the first point of the game on a 3-pointer. Wyche would tie the game with a long ball of his own shortly thereafter, sparking a 16-4 run by the Seawolves to give them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“We had a big challenge tonight and our guys stepped up,” Osborne said. “I’m proud of the guys and the way they stepped up defensively. We still have to be better rebounding-wise.”

Even though they got outrebounded by a whopping 41-15 margin, the Seawolves made up for their size disadvantage by utilizing their athleticism and overall team speed to swarm to the ball and record 16 steals to just 3 for UAF.

“We have a lot of athletes on the team, and we get after it on defense because we know we can cause teams problems so they can’t get shots up,” said Wyche, who led the team with five steals. “Even when they outrebound us, we get the turnover margin, and that helps us stay in the game.”

After beating a quality opponent to close out the calendar year on a high note, Wyche said the team’s overall confidence is soaring into the second half of the season. With the win, UAA moved to 7-5 overall and 1-2 in the GNAC.

“We’re still on the same mission, we can’t live on this game too much,” Wyche said. “We’ll live it up, but then tomorrow it’s back to work.”