Box Score

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Guard Brian McGill scored the winning basket on a driving bank shot with 6.5 seconds remaining as University of Alaska Anchorage edged Western Washington University, 62-60, on Saturday, Jan. 3, in Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball action at the new Alaska Airlines Center on the UAA campus.

A shot from five feet at the buzzer by forward Anye Turner (Sr., Tumwater/Black Hills) would not fall as the Vikings fell to 7-6 overall and 0-3 in GNAC action with their sixth loss in seven road games this season.

"We're playing well, but we've got to finish better," said WWU coach Tony Dominguez, whose Vikings lost 64-60 at Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday.

Forward Joey Schreiber (So., Renton/Eastside Catholic) led WWU with 18 points. Kyle Impero (Jr., Everson/Nooksack Valley) had 11 and Jeffrey Parker (So., Richmond, CA/Salesian) 10.

UAA improved to 7-7 overall and 3-1 in GNAC play with its fourth straight win following a 3-7 start. McGill finished with a game-high 20 points for the Seawolves, who also got a career-high 16 off the bench from Christian Leckband and 11 by Travis Thompson. UAA led by five points, 58-53, with 3:06 remaining after Thompson made two free throws.

The Vikings tied the score at 58-all with 2:01 left on a layup by Impero that followed a three-point play by Schreiber.

A McGill layup at 1:37 gave UAA a 60-58 advantage, but Turner knotted the score at 60-all by making two free throws at 1:15.

UAA turned the ball over with 42 seconds left and a missed 3-pointer by Impero five seconds later set up McGill's winning basket.

WWU led by as many as 11 points, 26-15, with 5:43 left in the first half and was ahead by three, 31-28, at halftime. Impero had nine of his points in the first period.

Turner finished with seven points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots, and Harris Javier (Jr., Walnut, CA/Walnut) had a game-high eight assists for the Vikings.

WWU was without their two starting guards. Jaamon Echols (Jr., Seattle/Rainier Beach), who has averaged 23.8 points over the last five games, could not play because of a sprained ankle; and Ricardo Maxwell (Jr. Cincinnati, OH/Withrow) missed his second straight contest with a knee bruise.

Sjur Berg grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for UAA.

WWU returns home to face Montana State Billings on Jan. 8 (7 p.m.) and Seattle Pacific on Jan. 10 (9 p.m.) in a pair of GNAC contests at Carver Gym. The Vikings' game with SPU will be telecast live on ROOT Sports.