ANCHORAGE (Oct. 25) – Junior-college transfer Tyler Burraston debuted with 23 points and Bishop Tosi returned the lineup with 10 points and 10 rebounds Friday, helping the Alaska Anchorage men’s basketball team to an 80-55 victory over Warner Pacific in the season opener at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves also got 14 points from Sean Evans and nine rebounds from fellow newcomer John McFadden as they outshot the visitors from Portland .483 to .339 and outrebounded them 43-30.
The Knights – who counted the contest as an exhibition – were led by 11 points from reserve guard Matt Solomon, along with eight points and six rebounds from Tre’von Cason.
“I thought we did some nice things for the first night with a mostly new group,” said UAA head coach Rusty Osborne, who claimed his 350th career victory to begin his 20th season at the helm. “We were able to get some looks at different lineup combinations, and our new guys got their feet wet. We were also able to get some quality minutes in for (Preseason All-GNAC point guard) Dillon (Barrientos), who is coming off a minor injury and hasn’t been able to practice much.”
Returning only four active letterwinners from last year’s club that went 22-11 and made the NCAA Div. II Tournament, the Seawolves found themselves in a 14-11 hole midway through the first half against their NAIA opponents.
Evans – a senior transfer from Nebraska-Kearney – went on a personal 7-0 run at the point, then fed Hasaan Herrington for a layup to make it 22-14. Burraston nailed a three-pointer to give UAA a 33-21 cushion with 1:53 left in the half, and the lead would stay at double figures the rest of the way.
The Seawolves stretched their largest advantage to 77-47 when redshirt freshman Parker Kroon nailed a trey for his first career points with two minutes to play.
A transfer from Green River (Wash.) Community College, Burraston shot 7 of 12 from the floor, 6 of 11 on threes and 3 of 3 at the foul stripe, along with four rebounds and no turnovers in a team-high 27 minutes.
Evans shot 5 of 10, while Tosi was 4 of 6 from the floor. A former Bartlett High star who redshirted after suffering a broken finger last November, Tosi also had four assists, no turnovers and a pair of steals in his return.
Herrington finished with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting, and JC transfer Zach Ibbetson collected seven points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and no turnovers in his Seawolf debut.
The Seawolves and Knights meet up for a rematch Saturday (5 p.m. ADT) at the Alaska Airlines Center. Find tickets and live links at GoSeawolves.com.
