Men's Basketball | 2/9/2013 7:01:00 PM

Box Score Monmouth, ORE—The Western Oregon Wolves led by as many as 11 points in the second half, but were stunned by a late rally by Alaska-Anchorage, falling to the Seawolves 79-73 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action at the New Physical Education Building on Saturday.

Western Oregon (9-11, 4-8 GNAC) led the visitors 35-29 at halftime, powered by the inside play of senior center Kolton Nelson and freshman forward Andy Avgi.  Nelson had a driving layup blocked as time expired in the first half, but the officials ruled that the shot had been goal tended to give the Wolves a five point cushion at intermission.

The Wolves bolted to an eleven point lead at 42-31 just two minutes into the second half, but Alaska-Anchorage closed the gap to just two at 44-42 at the fifteen minute mark.  The Seawolves took their first lead of the half at 3:39 on a three-pointer by Abebe Demissie to make it 69-68.

The Wolves would never lead again.  After a three pointer by Kyle Fossman, and a jumper by Teancum Stafford, the Seawolves led 76-68 with 1:30 left.  The Wolves got no closer than six the rest of the way.

Nelson  had 21 points and 6 rebounds in 22 minutes to pace Western Oregon.  Avgi had 18 points and a team-leading 8 boards, while senior James Gehring added 10.

Stafford led Alaska-Anchorage scorers with 17 points, while Fossman and Demissie each chipped in 15 to improve their record to 15-6, 8-5 in GNAC play.

The Wolves now hit the road for a pair of road games, playing Simon Fraser at Burnaby, BC next Thursday, February  14, and Western Washington on February 16, in Bellingham, WA.

~~WOU~~