ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Marc Matthews scored a career-high 25 points and made all 12 of his free-throw attempts, but four double-figure scorers including 23 from Travis Thompson helped host Alaska Anchorage to an 82-68 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball victory over Montana State University Billings Thursday evening at the Alaska Airlines Center.
 
Matthews had 14 of his points by halftime, and the 'Jackets clung to a narrow 34-32 lead at the break. One of four made treys on the night from Thompson started the second half and kicked off an 8-2 run for the Seawolves that changed the game's momentum. UAA led by as many as 15 points, as the 'Jackets could not recover from surrendering the lead and fell to 5-19 overall and 3-11 in GNAC play with the loss.
 
For UAA (14-9, 10-3 GNAC), Derrick Fain ended the night with 18 points and also had four 3-pointers. He and Thompson combined for eight of UAA's 12 makes from beyond the arc, as the Seawolves shot 52.2 percent from long range in the win.
 
"It was a tale of two halves," said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. "We played harder and rebounded really well in the first half, but the second half was the exact opposite. They shot it well and we struggled to get much going. Our guys played really hard, and I am proud of that."
 
Brian McGill scored 14 points for UAA, and tied Boomer Blossom for the team-high in assists with five. UAA doubled MSUB's tally in the assist column, winning that battle 26-13.
 
The 'Jackets had an excellent game overall from the foul line, connecting on 22 of 26 shots for a percentage of 84.6 on the night. Emmanuel Johnson posted eight of those makes, and finished with 17 points, five rebounds, an assist and a block. Also in double figures for MSUB was Antoine Hosley, who scored 10, had three rebounds and two assists in his first game back after an injury.
 
Tyler Nelson was the game's leader in rebounding with a dozen, but the 'Jackets were outrebounded by the Seawolves 35-32. Jace Anderson matched Matthews for the team high with four assists.
 
The teams traded off taking the lead early on in the game, and Hosley scored four-straight points with 13 minutes left as the score pulled even at 15-15. The 'Jackets crept ahead on a jumper by Matthews with 7:21 left that made the score 26-21, and MSUB took its largest lead of the game when the sophomore netted two foul shots that made the score 32-26 three minutes before the break.
 
UAA's run to open the second half shifted control into its hands, and a three by Dom Hunter midway through upped the spread to double-digits at 57-46. MSUB cut the lead down to nine on several occasions down the stretch, but the Seawolves maintained at least a three-possession edge through the remainder of the game to seal the win.
 
The game was even in terms of points in the paint, with UAA holding a slight 24-22 edge. While MSUB committed just 11 turnovers, UAA bettered that mark with seven. The Seawolves turned MSUB's giveaways into 13 points, but the 'Jackets held a 19-15 edge in second-chance points. The 'Jackets received just four points off of the bench while UAA benefitted from 23.
 
Hunter was also a double-digit scorer for UAA with 10 points, and he had four assists and a pair of steals. Blossom was the team's leading rebounder with six, and Christian Leckband totaled two blocks.
 
Overall from the field UAA shot 43.8 percent (28-for-64) compared with 42.9 percent (21-for-49) by MSUB. From 3-point range MSUB shot just 26.7 percent (4-for-15). The Seawolves made 14 of 19 shots from the foul line and Thompson finished 7-for-8.
 
Matthews was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game for his career scoring effort.
 
NEXT UP: The 'Jackets face Alaska Anchorage on Saturday in a special 3 p.m. Mountain time tipoff at the Patty Center. Live video and statistics will be available at www.msubsports.com.