ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Sophomore guard
D'Angelo Minnis had another big scoring night and senior forward
Luke Lovelady recorded a double-double, but the Western Washington University men's basketball team came up on the short end of an 81-75 road defeat against Alaska Anchorage Saturday night in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
The Vikings dropped to 11-8 overall and 4-5 in GNAC play, going 0-2 on the Alaska road trip after sweeping the series each of the last three seasons. WWU is now 1-6 away from Bellingham this season (10-2 in Carver Gym) and 0-4 in true road games. UAA won for the second straight game to improve to 10-5 overall, 5-3 in GNAC play and remained undefeated at home with a 7-0 record in the Alaska Airlines Center.
WWU led midway through the first half at 24-22, but UAA answered with a 12-2 run to establish a lead it would not relinquish the remainder of the game. The Seawolves held a 37-33 halftime lead, and out-scored the Vikings 44-42 in the second half to improve to 9-0 when leading at the half this season. The game was a rematch of an overtime 93-91 victory by WWU in Carver Gym on Monday.
Sophomore guard
D'Angelo Minnis led the Vikings with 24 points on 7-for-13 shooting, completing the two-game series in the week vs. UAA with 59 points after scoring 35 in the overtime win. Senior forward
Luke Lovelady recorded his second double-double of the season with 16 points (7-for-10 FG) and a game-high 11 rebounds. Alaska native
Daniel Hornbuckle added 12 points and six assists. The GNAC's leading shooting team shot over 50-percent for the 10th time this season (51.9/28-for-54).
The Seawolves were led by 30 points by center Oggie Pantovich, who was 12-for-19 shooting and also had seven rebounds and six assists. Tobin Karleberg and Hunter Sweet each had 13 points as the Seawolves shot 50.0% from the field (30-for-60).
WORTH NOTING
WWU played for the second consecutive game without leading scorer and reigning GNAC Player of the Week
Jalen Green, who suffered a knee injury in the first half of Monday's home game vs. UAA. Green is averaging 15.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 58.0% (83-for-143).
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and UAA from Saturday's game:
| COMPARISON |
WWU |
UAA |
| Points |
75 |
81 |
| Field Goal Pct. |
.519 (28-54) |
.500 (30-60) |
| 3 Point FG Pct. |
.250 (4-16) |
.444 (8-18) |
| Free Throw Pct. |
.789 (15-19) |
.722 (13-18) |
| Rebounds |
29 |
30 |
| Offensive Rebounds |
7 |
10 |
| Assists |
12 |
20 |
| Turnovers |
9 |
8 |
| Steals |
3 |
2 |
| Blocked Shots |
4 |
1 |
| Time Led |
1:09 |
38:19 |
| Points off Turnovers |
1 |
6 |
| Points in the Paint |
36 |
42 |
| Bench Points |
14 |
15 |
| Fouls |
17 |
15 |
SERIES HISTORY VS. ALASKA ANCHORAGE
WWU split the season series vs. Alaska Anchorage, with each team winning on its home court. Saturday's UAA win snapped a five-game winning streak by the Vikings in the series and a string of three consecutive wins in the Alaska Airlines Center. WWU maintains the lead in the all-time series 26-18 and is now 10-11 all-time in games played in Anchorage.
GNAC STANDINGS
Here is an updated look at the GNAC standings following play on Saturday, with the Vikings now at 4-5 in league play remaining in a tie for 6th place in the conference standings:
| MEN'S BASKETBALL |
CONF |
PCT |
OVERALL |
PCT |
HOME |
AWAY |
NEUTRAL |
STREAK |
| 1. |
Saint Martin's |
7-3 |
.700 |
14-5 |
.737 |
8-2 |
5-3 |
1-0 |
Lost 1 |
| 2. |
Montana State Billings |
6-3 |
.667 |
10-9 |
.526 |
5-6 |
3-2 |
2-1 |
Won 3 |
| 3. |
Central Washington |
6-4 |
.600 |
12-5 |
.706 |
6-1 |
5-3 |
1-1 |
Won 1 |
| 4. |
Alaska Anchorage |
5-3 |
.625 |
10-5 |
.667 |
7-0 |
2-5 |
1-0 |
Won 2 |
| 5. |
Seattle Pacific |
5-4 |
.556 |
12-8 |
.600 |
7-1 |
2-5 |
3-2 |
Won 2 |
| 6. |
Western Washington |
4-5 |
.444 |
11-8 |
.579 |
10-2 |
0-4 |
1-2 |
Lost 2 |
| |
Simon Fraser |
4-5 |
.444 |
9-8 |
.529 |
5-1 |
3-6 |
1-1 |
Lost 2 |
| 8. |
Northwest Nazarene |
3-4 |
.429 |
5-7 |
.417 |
3-1 |
2-5 |
0-1 |
Lost 2 |
| 9. |
Alaska Fairbanks |
3-7 |
.300 |
6-10 |
.375 |
3-1 |
1-7 |
2-2 |
Won 2 |
| 10. |
Western Oregon |
2-7 |
.222 |
3-14 |
.176 |
2-4 |
1-7 |
0-3 |
Lost 8 |
| SATURDAY'S GNAC SCHEDULE |
at Alaska Anchorage 81, Western Washington 75
Montana State Billings 87, at Western Oregon 79 (OT)
at Alaska Fairbanks 64, Simon Fraser 59
Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's (Postponed) |
NEXT UP FOR THE VIKINGS
The Vikings (11-8, 4-5 GNAC) are back in action with three GNAC games next week, beginning with a Tuesday road rivalry game at Central Washington with tip-off at 7 pm inside Nicholson Pavilion in Ellensburg. WWU then returns home to host Western Oregon (Thursday, 2/10) and Saint Martin's (Saturday, 2/12) on WECU Court in Carver Gym, with tip-off for the home games at 7 pm. A live webcast and statistical updates will be available for all three games with direct links at
wwuvikings.com/Live.
