Jaron Williams
For the most part, elite Anchorage basketball players didn’t want to play for the Seawolves over the last 20 years. The biggest names who did sign with UAA left early, which led to finger pointing and created a rift in the city’s hoops community.
Local guys needed to bridge the gap and restore trust. Da’Zhon Wyche got the ball rolling last season and Jaron Williams took it to the next level this season.
The story of ‘Ronnie to the Rescue’ added another chapter Thursday as Williams rewarded the Seawolves for believing in him by leading them to postseason glory with an 81-76 victory over 24th-ranked Saint Martin’s in the quarterfinals of the GNAC Tournament.
The former East High all-state guard poured in 23 points, with 15 coming in the fourth quarter of the game as UAA beat the nationally ranked Saints for the third time this season and advanced to Friday’s 4:15 p.m. semifinal against Northwest Nazarene.
“We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” Williams said in a press conference. “We’ve been working hard during the regular season. We’re ready to get the next one.”
The Seawolves (21-9) got this one after holding off a hard-charging Saint Martin’s team that sliced a 9-point deficit down to 56-52 with 9:48 left.
With his team in need of a spark, Williams stepped up by scoring 15 of UAA’s next 20 points. He hit back-to-back 3-pointers, then crashed the glass, got fouled and hit two free throws. His 15-foot jump shot put the Seawolves ahead 69-58.
Later, with UAA nursing a 71-68 lead and mired in a 1-for-9 shooting skid, Williams converted a tough, spinning layup through contact in the signature play of his college career.
Anchorage’s Jaron Williams (right) celebrates with Tyson Gilbert. Photo by Jacob Thompson
From there, Sawyer Storms hit a field goal and the Seawolves hit six of eight free throws the final minute to seal the deal.
It was a great team win, but Williams was the story. The Anchorage native succeeded in delivering UAA a postseason win, a goal he talked about having since he was a little dribbler when he signed with UAA two years ago out of junior college.
The 6-foot-4 senior is a defensive specialist who came into the night averaging 9.7 points per game. His 23 points was his highest total in 37 career games in the GNAC and second highest in 56 career games at UAA.
“We try to get the ball to the hot hand,” said UAA’s Dathan Satchell, who scored 15 points. “When Jaron’s going, we try to get the ball to Jaron. Or Tyson. Whoever has the hot hand.”
Gilbert got it going early with 10 of UAA’s first 28 points. He also hit three of the team’s 13 3-pointers as the Seawolves moved to 14-0 this season when they make 10 or more 3s in a game.
Both teams went through scoring four-minute scoring droughts in the first half. UAA’s Caleb Larsen came off the bench to give the Seawolves a lift after theirs, hitting a drive with 1 second on the shot clock, followed by two free throws after he was fouled in the act of shooting a 3.
The game was tied 30-30 in the closing moments of the first half when the Seawolves rattled off a 7-0 run capped by Williams’ corner 3. UAA made 7-of-8 field goals to end the half.
Williams finished 7-of-13 from the field, including four of six from 3-point range.
“I’ve been going through a kind of a little bit of a slump lately, so it was good to see the ball go through a couple of times,” he said. “My teammates did a good job of finding me and we did a good job of playing together today.”
Dathan Satchell
The Seawolves stayed hot from downtown as Satchell buried two 3s and Storms added another triple to push the lead to 49-40.
That’s when the Rage City crew chipped in. Freshman Sloan Lentfer of Anchorage finished strong off glass, Williams set up a Gilbert bucket with a beautiful bounce pass in traffic and Hasaan Herrington of Anchorage drilled a 3 to make it 56-47.
Saint Martin’s made a little run to get close, but the Seawolves snuffed it out to sweep the Saints 3-0 this season, each win coming when they were nationally ranked.
UAA has their number, and now the Seawolves have punched their ticket back to the GNAC Tournament semifinals for the third time in four seasons.