Seawolves secure 5th straight win, 71-67, in Bellingham

Bellingham, Wash. (Jan. 4) - Junior guards Tyler Burraston and Hasaan Herrington combined for 30 points and Jesse Stines delivered the final four points of the game Saturday to lift Alaska Anchorage to a 71-67 men's basketball victory over Western Washington at Carver Gymnasium.

The Seawolves (10-7, 3-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) got 16 points and eight rebounds from Burraston as the Green River College transfer returned to his old stomping grounds with 4-of-7 three-point shooting. Herrington had 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting and six rebounds as UAA won its fifth in a row.

The Vikings (8-6, 0-4) were led by 29 points on 9-of-14 shooting, three assists and five steals from guard Tijan Saine, but the rest of his teammates combined to shoot just 15 of 41 from the floor.

"We did not play well tonight, but we found a way to persevere and get some stops late in the second half," said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne. "Jesse was huge for us off the bench - especially in the last five minutes - on both ends of the court. We will learn from tonight, correct our mistakes and get ready for two big games next weekend."

In a series in which the last 18 games had been decided by 10 points or less, Saturday's matchup was no exception, with no one leading by double figures.

UAA grabbed a 41-37 halftime advantage behind three three-pointers from Burraston in the opening 20 minutes, and led 48-43 when he completed an acrobatic three-point play with a free throw with 14:35 to play.

The Vikings responded with their strongest stretch of the game, however, getting a go-ahead three-pointer from Saine during a 15-3 run.

Senior guard Sean Evans - coming off a career-high 32-point effort in Thursday's win at Simon Fraser - sank a short jumper to snap a four-minute scoreless drought, then swiped the ball and fed Burraston for a three-pointer to slice the deficit to 58-56.

Trailing 60-57, Burraston missed a free throw but grabbed his own rebound and fed Stines for a tying three-pointer with 4:24 left. The play would prove prophetic for Stines, who had been the lone Seawolf not to crack the score column to that point.

Tied 67-67 as the clock ticked under one minute, Western Washington's Aiden Rice drove the lane and was stripped by Herrington, whose fastbreak dish to Stines led to two free throws. Stines made one of two with 42 seconds left, and delivered a bigger play when he deflected another Viking pass and snagged it with 30 seconds on the clock.

Stines would go to the line again - this time with 18.6 seconds left - and swish both attempts. Saine attempted a layup with five seconds remaining, but his teammate was called for basket interference, and Stines provided the final score by splitting two more charities.

Herrington made both of his three-point tries as the former East Anchorage High School star established a new scoring high in GNAC play, while Evans finished with 12 points (5-9 FG) and three assists.

Stines finished with seven points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal, one block and no turnovers in 18 minutes.

Two nights after setting season highs with 17 three-pointers on .460 accuracy against Simon Fraser, the Seawolves improved their season-best percentage with 12-of-24 (.500) long-range shooting against the Vikings.

The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center next week for a pair of games, beginning with Thursday's 7 p.m. AST tip against Northwest Nazarene. Find tickets and live links at GoSeawolves.com.

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