Box Score

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Jan. 31) -- Junior MARK MCLAUGHLIN (Bothell/Inglemoor HS) scored a team-high 20 points, and three of his Central Washington University teammates joined him in double figures, but the Wildcats were held to a season-low 69 points in a 98-69 loss to the University of Alaska Anchorage on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

CWU fell to 11-7 overall and 5-5 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, while UAA improved to 13-5 and 6-4 in the conference. Eleven of the Seawolves' 13 wins this season have been at home in Anchorage.

The Wildcats and Seawolves, who, along with the Alaska Nanooks came into play in a three-way tie for third place in the GNAC standings, were pretty even for the first 10 minutes of the contest. CWU held a two-point lead at the midway point of the opening period before a 12-0 UAA run produced the game's first double-digit margin, and the Seawolves did not look back from there. The hosts led 49-37 at the intermission, aided by a 10-for-16 shooting performance from three-point range in the first half.

CWU's shooting, which was a respectable 46.2 percent in the first half, cooled after halftime as they dipped to just 39.3 percent in the second half en route to a 42.6 percent efficiency for the game. Alaska Anchorage, meanwhile, upped its shooting percentage after halftime, turning the final margin into a 29-point differential.

The Wildcats played without the services of junior CHRIS HOLMES (Seattle/Franklin HS), who missed his first start of the season due to illness. In his place, redshirt freshman JOEY ROPPO (Monroe) had his first career start but did not score in 18 minutes of play.

McLaughlin was 7 of 13 from the field and 6 of 9 at the free throw line to account for his scoring total. Senior JORDAN COBY (Tacoma/Woodrow Wilson HS) came off the bench to add 15 points and five rebounds, while senior DERRICK DAVIS (Tacoma/Clover Park HS) and junior NATE WALKER (Tacoma/Henry Foss HS) finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively, with each player shooting better than 65 percent from the floor.

Alaska Anchorage, which finished the game 13 for 23 from three-point range, was led by the game-high 26 points of junior Kyle Fossman. He and Teancum Stafford each made 4 of 6 three-pointers in the contest, as Stafford and Abebe Demissie added 18 points apiece.

CWU will look to salvage a split of its Alaska road trip on Saturday night (Feb. 2), facing the Alaska Nanooks in Fairbanks at 8 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (7 p.m. Alaska Standard Time).