UAA men claim seventh place in Great Alaska Shootout

The University of Alaska Anchorage men’s basketball team claimed seventh place in the Great Alaska Shootout, beating NCAA Div. I opponent Drake University.

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UAA head coach Rusty Osborne said during the Seawolves’ 74-69 win, the team was focusing on three things.

“Play hard every possession; have fun; and be the toughest team,” Osborne said. “And for the first two days, I thought we did all those and we started the game like that, and we stopped playing hard every possession, we stopped respecting our opponent, and that’s not acceptable.”

“And to their credit, they came out in the second half and they turned it around, which is sometimes hard to do when you get in a mindset like that.”

UAA was led in scoring against Drake by senior guard Suki Wiggs’ 24-point outing, who rebounded after struggling in the Seawolves’ first two Shootout games, when he sank only five of 37 shot attempts from the floor.

“Both those teams played wonderful defense on me, they had someone on me at all times,” Wiggs said. “But my teammates and [Coach Osborne] here and my coaches having faith in me through the end is what got me through.”

“So I’ve just gotta bounce back when things happen like that, and that’s what I did tonight.”

Against Drake, Wiggs hit seven of 17 shots, with 11 of those attempts coming from beyond the three-point line. He also shot 70 percent from the free throw line.

Osborne said he was impressed with the efforts of players coming off the bench.

“Especially late, coming in and holding off [Drake’s] charge. Made a few little mistakes, but we had some guys in there who don’t play a lot,” Osborne said.

Three Seawolves played more than 30 minutes on Saturday.

Behind Wiggs’ 24 points, senior guards Spencer Svejcar and Diante Mitchell netted 20 and 11 points, respectively.

UAA begins regular season play Thursday, Dec. 1 against Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent Central Washington.