The Western Washington University men’s basketball team was dealt an 89-79 defeat against the University of Alaska Anchorage Saturday night on WECU Court in Carver Gym.
The Seawolves never trailed in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference match-up with both teams fighting for a playoff spot. WWU dropped to 7th in the GNAC standings at 6-9 in league play and 13-12 overall. UAA jumped ahead of the Vikings with its third consecutive victory to improve to 12-11 overall and 6-8 in league play.
WWU will now head on the road to face Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington next week, in critical games as the Vikings fight for one of the six spots in the GNAC Championships that will be held March 2-4 in Bellingham.
Western had a solid shooting performance at 51.0-percent (25-for-49), but UAA was even better at nearly 56-percent (33-for-59) including a hot start that helped build a 47-37 halftime advantage.
The Vikings chiseled away at game-high 18-point deficit midway through the second half, trailing by eight points with 2:45 remaining, but couldn’t complete the comeback in the 10-point loss.
Sophomore guard Matthew Mayes led the Vikings with a career-high 15 points on 5-for-6 shooting, including 3-for-4 from three-point range. Sophomore guard Kai Johnson added 14 points and six assists, and Daniel Hornbuckle chipped in 13 points. Five Vikings reached double-digits in scoring, with D’Angelo Minnis (12 points) and BJ Kolly (10 points) adding to the offense.
UAA featured four players scoring in double-digits, led by 21 points on 6-for-6 shooting by Sawyer Storms and 18 points from Tyson Gilbert. The Seawolf defense forced 16 WWU turnovers, leading to 23 points. UAA also out-scored the Vikings 42-24 in the paint and held a 27-25 rebounding advantage.
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