Men's Basketball | 1/22/2009 5:23:18 PM

Box Score MONMOUTH, Ore. - Alaska Anchorage committed just six turnovers in its Great Northwest Athletic Conference game against Western Oregon to defeat the Wolves, 75-54, Thursday, Jan. 22.
 
With the loss WOU fell to 1-3 in the GNAC and to 7-8 on the season. The win moved UAA to 3-1 in the conference and to 9-8 on the year.
 
Mike McLaughlin registered a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds as he led WOU in both categories. Sam Kelly was the only other double-figures scorer for the Wolves as he notched 12 points, including going 3-of-6 on his three-point attempts.
 
For the game, Western Oregon was held to 35.3 percent shooting while Alaska Anchorage converted on 53.8 percent of its shots from the floor. UAA also showed why it is the GNAC leader in defense as it held WOU 23.6 points below its season scoring average of 77.6 points per game. The Seawolves had been giving up 65.7 p.p.g., to its opponents but yielded just 54 to the Wolves Thursday night. UAA also capitalized off WOU turnovers, outscoring the Wolves 24-7 on points off turnovers. UAA's defense was able to hold Western Oregon's freshman guard to just five points, after he had averaged 25.3 p.p.g., over his last three games.
 
Kenny Barker put up a game-high 23 points in the win for Alaska Anchorage as he went 9-of-13 from the floor and 5-of-7 from three-point range.
 
Alaska Anchorage committed just one turnover in the first half and shot 61.5 percent from behind the arc to lead 41-30 at the half. Brandon Walker scored 16 points of his 18 points in the first half for the Seawolves to lead all scorers during the period, as he shot 6-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range.
 
Western Oregon fell behind 9-2 early in the game but put on a 13-5 run of its own to take the lead at 15-14, this would be the last time the Wolves would lead in the game. Following the three-pointer by Matt Schmidt which put the Wolves in front, the Seawolves went on a 12-0 run to take a lead it would never relinquish.
 
The Western Oregon men's basketball team will continue its three-game homestand Saturday, Jan. 24, when it takes on Alaska Fairbanks at 7:00 p.m.