ANCHORAGE – David Penney and Wilfried Balata scored 15 points apiece but that wasn't enough as Alaska Anchorage beat SFU 71-59 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game Thursday at the Alaska Airlines Center.
 
Playing their first home game since Dec. 30, the Seawolves (9-5, 4-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) got 22 points and nine rebounds from senior center Oggie Pantovic in the victory.
 
Simon Fraser (9-7, 4-4) was led by 15 points apiece and a combined seven assists from the duo of David Penney and Wilfried Balata, but was limited to 24 second-half points, with none in the final five minutes.
 
UAA shot .527 from the field and out-rebounded SFU 31-26.
 
Following a back-and-forth first half that featured seven ties and eight lead changes, the Seawolves took control on consecutive baskets from Pantovic for a 40-37 lead with 18 minutes left. Tobin Karlberg gave UAA a 61-52 advantage with a midrange jumper at the 8-minute mark, and SFU answered quickly with two free throws by center Julian Roche and a trey by Penney.
 
After back-to-back inside buckets, Roche scored on a nice feed from Penney to make it 65-59 with five minutes remaining, but SFU would not score again, committing turnovers on their next four possessions.
 
Pantovic made 10 of his first 11 shots and finished 10 of 13 from the floor, posting his fourth 20-plus scoring performance this season.
 
Roche finished the game with six points and seven rebounds.
 
SFU shot 23-of-56 from the field (41.1%) and 8-of-25 on threes (32.0%). The Seawolves scored 48 points in the paint compared to 24 by SFU. Alaska scored 14 points off 14 SFU turnovers.
 
SFU returns to action Saturday for a 6:15 p.m. tip against Alaska Fairbanks.
 
-- With files from Alaska Anchorage communications