Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Jan. 16) -- Junior Toussaint Tyler (Kent/Kentwood HS) gave Central Washington a one-point lead with 34.8 seconds remaining with two free throws, but Alaska Anchorage's Casey Robinson won the game with two free throws of his own with four-tenths of a second remaining as CWU suffered its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference loss of the season, 67-66, to the visiting Seawolves on Saturday night at Nicholson Pavilion.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Wildcats, who fell to 9-5 overall and 3-1 in GNAC play with the defeat. It also marked their first home loss of the season in five starts at Nicholson Pavilion. Alaska Anchorage improved to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in the GNAC.

Robinson won the game for Alaska Anchorage in the closing seconds. After Central had taken the lead on Tyler's free throws and had forced the Seawolves into a missed field goal, both teams scrambled for the loose ball, which UAA recovered. After each team took a timeout with 1.7 seconds left, Alaska Anchorage inbounded the ball to Robinson. With a last-ditch three-point attempt in his sights, Central's Coby Gibler (Bainbridge Island/Bainbridge HS) was called for a foul on the floor some 25 feet from the basket, sending Robinson to the line with four-tenths of a second remaining. He calmly made both free throws to give UAA the lead.

Central led until the 13:41 mark of the second half, taking a 10-point lead at one point in the first half and carrying a six-point edge (31-25) into the locker room at halftime. However, an 8-0 run by Alaska Anchorage gave the Seawolves a three-point lead, and the Wildcats were back in front just once -- after Tyler's final free throw with 34.8 seconds left -- the rest of the way.

Central Washington, which was coming off its second-highest single-game scoring effort in a GNAC game since joining the league nine years ago with 120 points against Alaska on Thursday night, was held to a season-low 66 points by the Seawolves on Saturday. The Wildcats did most of their second-half scoring damage at the free throw line, where they tallied 26 of their 35 points in the period and had 33 attempts. CWU went just 4 of 19 from the field in the final stanza and finished the game with just 17 made baskets, the team's lowest total in more than two years.

Each team finished with just 49 field goal attempts on Saturday, with Alaska Anchorage making 21 (42.9 percent) to Central's 17 (34.7 percent). The Seawolves also scored nine more points from three-point range, but the Wildcats were a plus-10 at the foul line thanks to their wealth of second-half free throws. CWU also had a slight edge in rebounding (34-32) and committed two fewer turnovers (14-12).

Individually, Central was balanced behind Tyler, senior Riley Sivak (Ellensburg), and Gibler. Tyler and Sivak finished with 14 apiece, while Gibler scored a career-high 13 points with five rebounds. All nine Wildcats to play in the contest scored at least three points.

Alaska Anchorage was led by Robinson, who finished with a game-high 18 including a perfect 6 for 6 at the free throw line. Nick Pacitti added 14 points and nine rebounds before being disqualified on a technical foul (his fifth personal foul) with 3:44 remaining. Donnie Lao added 12 for the Seawolves.

Central Washington will host rival Western Washington next Saturday night (Jan. 23) at Nicholson Pavilion at 7 p.m.