Nov. 30, 2006
Fairbanks, AK - The Alaska Nanooks used a strong start to defeat Golden State Baptist College 80-45 in non-conference action at the Patty Center Thursday night. The Nanooks jumped to a 13-point lead as the Bears hibernated with just one field goal in the first seven minutes. Alaska led by 42-19 at the half and the lead would surge to as many as 41 points late in the game.
Alaska was led by junior guard Kenny Barker (San Diego, CA) with a solid all-around effort. Barker tallied a game-high 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Freshman guard Jordan Hayter (Grants Pass, OR) had a career-high 16 points off the bench and sophomore forward Colin Matteson (Lynnwood, WA) chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds.
Freshman forward Kevin Atkins (Long Beach, CA) made his first start as a Nanook and finished with a game-high 12 rebounds, as the Alaska out boarded the Bears by 47-24.
The Bears were led by 13 points apiece from forward Stephen Wendt and center Jake Pignanello. Alaska held GSBC leading scorer Justin West, the team's player/coach, to 2-for-10 shooting from the floor and just seven points, more than 12 points off his average. Golden State shot just 32 percent in the game including dreadful 7-of-26 in the opening half.
Alaska opened the game with a 15-2 run capped by a three-pointer from Barker, who finished the game 4-of-8 from downtown. The Nanooks hit 10 out of 25 shots from beyond the arc to stretch an already out-manned and undersized Bears defense. Golden State features no player over 6-5 on their roster.
Alaska will play Golden State Baptist again on Saturday (Dec. 2) at 2:00 p.m. AST in the Patty Center.
