Men’s Basketball: Saints nearly upset Seawolves

March 6, 2007

Anchorage, AK – Saint Martin’s poured in everything they had against the 11th ranked Alaska Anchorage team but came up just shy of a victory falling 100-98 in overtime Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

Anchorage took a 100-97 lead with nine second left thanks to a Carl Arts’ free throw conversion. After a jump ball, that went in the Saints’ favor, UAA decided to foul and sent Jake Linton, the best free throw shooter in DII, to the line for two shots with 2.8 seconds to go.

The Saints ran a make-and-miss play in which Linton purposely missed the second of his free throws allowing Blake Poole to sneak under for the board. As Poole went up for what would be the tying basket, Chris Bryant was able to get a hand up and block the shot as time ran out.

Saint Martin’s trailed by as much as 13 in the second half but rallied again and again to stay in it. They outscored UAA 7-2 over the final 50 seconds of regulation to force overtime. Bill Richardson hit a layup to tie the game 83-83 with 11 seconds left and Anchorage got off one final shot as time expired.

Richardson led the Saints with 27 points, going 12-13 from the field while Brendan Campbell added 21 points on eight of 11. Linton had 16 points and dished out 13 assists.

Also in double figures for the Saints were Tyler Nixon with 12 points and Justin Alexander with 11, three of four from the three.

The Seawolves were, who came in allowing a GNAC low 59.1 points, were burned for their most points allowed overall and in regulation this season as the Saints shot 60 percent from the field including 62.5 percent from the three.

“They played really well and with a lot of heart tonight. I couldn’t be more proud of their effort. They were great offensively, defensively, just all around. It was a great game to be a part of,” said head coach Keith Cooper. “In 21 years of coaching I have never been prouder of a team after a loss.”

The Saints will wrap up their season with a game against the University of Alaska Fairbanks Saturday night in Fairbanks.