ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Minnesota State-Mankato was tripped up Saturday afternoon as the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves defeated the Mavericks 83-72.
With the loss, MSU falls to 1-1 on the season, while UAA improves to 2-0.
The game remained close early on in the first half as the Mavericks and Seawolves were knotted up at 20 with 8:45 left in the opening frame. UAA finished off the first half on a 24-15 run to take a 44-35 lead into the locker room.
Juniors Lucas Brown and Zach Monaghan paced the Mavericks offense with seven points each in the first half, while junior Assem Marei added five points and four rebounds.
Teancum Stafford led all scorers in the first half with 17 points, while Brian McGill added 10 points for the Seawolves as well.
The second half saw UAA build a 14-point lead at 67-53 with 11:40 left in the game. MSU managed get back within six at 75-69 with 5:31 left in the game, but that was as close as the Mavericks would get as the Seawolves secured the 83-72 win.
No. 2 Seattle Pacific 72, Lindenwood 58
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- David Downs scored 10 of his game-high 29 points during a 12-point first-half run Saturday that put second-ranked Seattle Pacific in control en route to a 72-58 win against Lindenwood on the second day of the Disney Tip-Off Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Downs made 8 of 12 shots from the field, including 5-for-7 accuracy on 3-pointers. The senior point guard converted 8 of 9 free throws.
Sophomore Brendan Carroll contributed a career-high 12 points for the Falcons, who also got 10 from Riley Stockton.
Lindenwood made its first three shots, including a pair of 3-pointers from Michael Boos, to jump out to an 8-2 lead three minutes into the contest.
No. 3 West Liberty 107, Washington Adventist (Md.) 60
WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. -- West Liberty got the 2013-14 season off to a flying start Saturday night with a 107-60 blowout win against Washington Adventist (Md.) at the ASRC.
The game followed a pattern that has grown quite familiar for Hilltopper fans in recent years as West Liberty's high-pressure defense shocked the Shock (2-1) into a series of turnovers that fed into a WLU offensive explosion.
The Hilltoppers were up 16-6 just four minutes into the game and had pushed the lead past 20 points 33-12 before the 10-minute mark of the opening half. Substituting freely throughout, West Liberty built a 63-28 halftime lead and then opened the second half by wrapping a pair of transition baskets around a Seger Bonifant three-pointer for the largest lead of the night, 70-28, before coasting home.
No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona 73, La Sierra 46
POMONA, Calif. -- Cal Poly Pomona, ranked seventh nationally in the preseason poll, got its 2013-14 campaign off to a strong start as the Broncos cruised to a 73-46 home win against La Sierra in the opener.
CPP shot 51.8 percent from the field and outrebounded its opponent by a wide margin 52-32. Every Bronco that played Saturday recorded at least two points while nine of the 11 active players dished out assists.
Leading the way offensively for the Bronocs were Jordan Faison and Daniel Rodriguez. Faison shot 6-for-10 from the floor and added six rebounds while Rodriguez scored a career-high 14 points with a 5-for-6 shooting effort.
Four newcomers put in stellar debuts, including starting forward Ray Ray Chase grabbing seven boards.
No. 9 Florida Southern 89, Delta State 66
CLEVELAND, Miss. -- Florida Southern opened its 87th season of intercollegiate basketball here Saturday evening by using 55 percent shooting from the field and placing four players in double figures en route to posting an 89-66 win against Delta State in the second game of the "Down in the Delta" Challenge at Walter Sillers Coliseum.
The Moccasins, who are ranked ninth in the Preseason NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll, open the season with the victory for the second consecutive year and eighth time in the last 10 seasons. DSU fell to 0-1 on the season.
FSC, who improved to 3-1 all-time against the Statesmen, was paced by the scoring of junior guard Kevin Capers as he scored 18 of his game-high 23 points in the opening half, including a stretch of 10 consecutive points that helped turn as 23-22 lead into a 38-28 advantage with 5:24 left in the first half. Along with his 23 points, Capers also recorded six steals, including four in the first half and two assists in just 17 minutes of action.
