Losers of two straight games and four of their previous six, the Seawolves got just what they needed Tuesday night: a romp over their in-state rival.
The UAA men’s basketball team got career-bests from four players en route to a 105-86 victory over UAF at the Alaska Airlines Center.
Oggie Pantovic racked up his biggest double-double of the season with 24 points and 14 rebounds, Jack Macdonald buried 7 of 10 3-pointers en route to a career-high 25 points and Tobin Karlberg and Amari Hale both handed out career-high seven assists for the Seawolves.
The Seawolves improved to 12-8 overall and 5-4 in the GNAC. UAF slipped to 6-11, 5-4.
“Our offensive execution was terrific tonight, and we did a nice job of preventing their second and third offensive options from getting rolling,” UAA coach Rusty Osborne said in a release from the school. “Jack and our entire rotation made great decisions with our ball movement, and our shot-makers did a great job at burying the open looks.''
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory came in the midst of a tough stretch for the Seawolves —four games in eight days, four states and three time zones.
The stretch began with road losses to Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene of Idaho on Thursday and Saturday of last week. UAA returned to Anchorage for Tuesday’s game before returning to the road for a Thursday game against Montana State-Billings.
UAF’s Shadeed Shabazz had a huge game with 34 points, eight assists and five steals and the Nanooks shot 53 percent from the field, but UAA countered with five players in double figures and red-hot outside shooting.
The Seawolves shot 51.7 percent from the field and were even better outside the arc, hitting 19 of 35 3-point attempts (54 percent). They tallied assists on 24 of their 31 baskets.
Pantovic, a 6-foot-7 junior transfer from Serbia, hit 5 of 8 field goals and 13 of 14 free throws for his 24 points. He was 6 of 6 from the foul line in the final 99 seconds, when UAA outscored the Nanooks 11-4 to seal the victory.
Macdonald, a senior point guard, enjoyed his biggest scoring night in four seasons with UAA by hitting 9 of 13 field goal attempts, including 7 of 10 behind the arc. He added six assists.
Karlberg scored 19 points on 5-of-10 field goal shooting (4 of 6 from 3-point range) and 5-of-5 free throw shooting while adding six rebounds and the seven assists. Niko Bevens chipped in 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting and Tyrus Hosley scored 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Hale had nine points to go with his seven assists.
UAA outrebounded the Nanooks 37-28 while outscoring them 57-27 from 3-point range and 19-9 at the foul line.