Jan. 19, 2008

Box Score

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Derrick Webb (Jr., Port Orchard/South Kitsap) came off the bench to score a game-high 27 points, 20 of them in the second half, but it wasn't enough as Western Washington University fell to nationally ranked University of Alaska Anchorage, 63-62,, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game Saturday before a sellout crowd of 1,230 at Wells Fargo Sports Center.

The loss dropped the Vikings to 10-5 overall and 3-3 in the GNAC. Forward Calin Schell (Jr., Chelan) added 11 points for Western.

UAA, No.14 in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 Poll, improved to 14-3 and stayed atop the GNAC at 5-0. Carl Arts and Chris Bryant each had 17 points for the Seawolves and Bryant also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Webb, who scored 14 of Western's last 16 points, hit a rare four-point play with 7:58 to play, giving the Vikings their only lead of the second half at 49-48, but UAA used an 8-2 run to take a 57-53 lead with 2:30 to play.

Webb struck again, hitting a layup and free throw with 2:11 left, narrowing the margin to one, 57-56, but Arts scored at the other end, and after the Vikings failed to score on the next two possessions, McCade Olsen hit a jumper to give UAA a 61-56 lead with 16 seconds left, all but putting the game out of reach.

The Seawolves led much of the game, but the contest was close throughout, with UAA's biggest lead being just seven points and the margin never being greater than five in the last 13 minutes.

Webb was 10-of-14 from the field, including 5-of-7 on 3-pointers. He was perfect on seven field-goal attempts in the second half, including four treys.

The Vikings blocked seven shots, with center Steve Severin (So., Hanford/Richland) getting four and Schell three, but struggled again from the free throw line, going just 7-of-13 (53.8 percent).

Western guard Ira Graham (Jr., Fontana, CA), who entered the game leading the GNAC and ninth nationally in scoring at 21.4 points a game, had just seven points, snapping a string of 19 consecutive double-figure games that dated back to last season.

Western next travels to arch-rival Central Washington University for a GNAC counter Saturday, Jan. 26 (7 p.m.).