Box Score
BILLINGS, Mont. – A 22-point lead was not enough to hold off the No. 9-ranked men's basketball team in the NCAA Div. II West Region, University of Alaska-Anchorage, on Montana State University Billings' Senior Night Saturday. The Seawolves rallied for a 71-69 victory, despite the large first half deficit.
Alaska-Anchorage (18-8, 11-7 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) wraps up its regular-season by claiming the third-seed in next week's GNAC Tournament in Lacey, Wash. The Yellowjackets will be the fifth-seed and face fourth-seeded Alaska-Fairbanks in Thursday's quarterfinals. Montana State Billings was the fifth-seed in last year's tournament before making its run to the conference title.
Christian Leckband led UAA with a career-high 16 points. He made four of his five attempts from the field, and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line. Liam Gibcus contributed a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
After leading 2-0 to begin the game, the Seawolves did not have their next lead until 1:00 left in regulation. The Seawolves' comeback was their largest ever from a halftime deficit on the road, surpassing a 13-point rally at Chaminade on Dec. 15, 2003. UAA's halftime comeback matched the third-largest in program history and the largest ever in a GNAC game.
The Seawolves had a 32-22 rebound advantage, and scored 26 points in the paint. MSUB had 14 points in the paint. The Yellowjackets made nine of their 17 three-point attempts in the first half, but missed all six attempts in the second half. MSU Billings made 55 percent of its shots from the field in the first half, and 39 percent in the second. UAA finished the game shooting 44 percent from the field.
Alaska-Anchorage was 4-of-16 from behind-the-arc, but made 23 of its 34 free-throw attempts. MSUB was 10-of-15 from the free-throw line.
Montana State Billings made its first four shots from the field, and had an early advantage. A
Sam Johnson dunk gave the Yellowjackets their first double-digit lead, 23-12, of the game at the 11:32 mark of the first half. A 14-4 run over a five-minute span gave MSUB a 40-19 lead. During the run, a
David Arnold three-pointer gave the Yellowjackets a 22-point advantage with 6:30 left in the first half. The Seawolves closed within 17 points, 44-27, at halftime.
Alaska-Anchorage scored 15 of the first 17 points in the second half to cut the lead to four points, just five minutes into the second stanza. The Seawolves pulled within 55-53 on two free throws by Kyle Fossman at the 8:19 mark. The Yellowjackets seemed to retake the momentum with a 9-1 run of their own, making it 64-54 with 5:32 left, but UAA would not go away.
The Seawolves closed the game on a 17-5 run, including a pair of free throws by Stafford with 1:00 left in the game, to give UAA its first lead since the opening seconds at 68-67.
The Yellowjackets (16-13, 9-9) were led by Arnold's game-high 21 points. The senior scored 19 in the first half, making all five of his three-pointers in the opening half.
Omar McDade added 17 points.
Jarrell Crayton dished out a game-high four assists.
The GNAC men's tournament will tips off Thursday at 5:15 p.m. Pacific Time, and will match third-seed Alaska-Anchorage against sixth-seed Central Washington. Fifth-seeded Montana State Billings then plays fourth-seed Alaska-Fairbanks at 7:30 p.m. No. 3 Western Washington is the top seed and fourth-ranked Seattle Pacific is the No. 2 seed. They both receive byes in the opening round.
The semifinals are slated for 5:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The championship game, which will be televised by ROOT Sports, is scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Each GNAC tournament game will have live video and stats available on GNACSports.com.
The winner of the championship game earns an automatic berth in the NCAA West Regional Tournament, which begins March 15 at a site to be determined.
MSUB – ALASKA-ANCHORAGE POSTGAME NOTES
* Montana State Billings and Alaska-Anchorage met for the 66th time Saturday.
* MSUB is 21-9 against the Seawolves in Billings, but 4-29 in Anchorage.
* The first meeting was a 92-91 UAA win on Dec. 1, 1977.
* The 22-point lead that was lost was the largest under
Jamie Stevens, with the previous being 18 points to Central Washington last season.
* The Seawolves' comeback was their largest ever from a halftime deficit on the road, surpassing a 13-point rally at Chaminade on Dec. 15, 2003.
* UAA's halftime comeback matched the third-largest in program history and the largest ever in a GNAC game.
Alaska Anchorage vs MSU Billings
03/02/13 7 p.m. at Billings, Mont. (Alterowitz Gymnasium)
At Billings, Mont. (Alterowitz Gymnasium)
ALASKA ANCHORAGE 71, MSU BILLINGS 69
ALASKA ANCHORAGE (18-8, 11-7 GNAC)
Leckband,Christian 4-5 7-9 16; Stafford,Teancum 5-10 4-4 16; Gibcus,Liam 3-7
4-7 10; Fossman,Kyle 2-6 5-7 9; Demissie,Abebe 3-6 1-2 8; Lauwers,Colton 2-5
0-2 4; Erickson,John 1-3 2-2 4; Spickerman,Collin 1-1 0-0 2; Little,Jalen
1-3 0-1 2; Heard,Stephan 0-0 0-0 0; MacKelvie,Mike 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-49
23-34 71.
MSU BILLINGS (16-13, 9-9 GNAC)
Arnold,David 8-17 0-0 21; McDade,Omar 6-10 2-2 17; Crayton,Jarrell 4-7 1-2
9; Johnson,Sam 4-9 0-0 8; Wallace,Devon 1-1 4-6 6; Trabing,Robby 1-2 3-5 5;
Cusworth,Cameron 1-1 0-0 3; Hatcher,Kalob 0-5 0-0 0; Nelson,Tyler 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 25-52 10-15 69.
Alaska Anchorage.............. 27 44 - 71
MSU Billings.................. 44 25 - 69
3-point goals--Alaska Anchorage 4-16 (Stafford,Teancum 2-4; Demissie,Abebe
1-3; Leckband,Christian 1-2; Lauwers,Colton 0-3; MacKelvie,Mike 0-1;
Fossman,Kyle 0-3), MSU Billings 9-23 (Arnold,David 5-7; McDade,Omar 3-6;
Cusworth,Cameron 1-1; Hatcher,Kalob 0-5; Johnson,Sam 0-3; Crayton,Jarrell
0-1). Fouled out--Alaska Anchorage-None, MSU Billings-None. Rebounds--Alaska
Anchorage 32 (Gibcus,Liam 11), MSU Billings 22 (Trabing,Robby 6).
Assists--Alaska Anchorage 7 (Lauwers,Colton 3), MSU Billings 15
(Crayton,Jarrell 4). Total fouls--Alaska Anchorage 14, MSU Billings 22.
Technical fouls--Alaska Anchorage-None, MSU Billings-None. A-512
Alaska-Anchorage rallies from 22-point deficit for win
