Jan. 25, 2007
SEATTLE, WA - The Alaska Nanooks used a last-second bucket to topple Seattle University 57-56 on the road Thursday night. Junior guard Mike Titus (Fairbanks, AK) hit the game-winning shot with half a second left to give Alaska (12-8, 3-3) a valuable Great Northwest Athletic Conference road win at the Connolly Center over the Redhawks (11-6, 3-3).
"It was something else. We'll take it," head coach Frank Ostanik said. "It wasn't like he had a clean look. He just threw it up and it went in. Nothing but net."
Down 56-55 with nine seconds left, Ostanik and the Nanooks called two timeouts to sandwich a Redhawk timeout. All the strategy went out the window on the ensuing possession.
The inbounds went to senior Jushay Rockett (Long Beach, CA), who tried to shoot over 6-11 David White but was blocked. Titus emerged from the scramble for the loose ball and let the game-winning jumper fly from just inside the top of the key.
"We got exactly what we wanted out of the timeout. The ball was in Jushay's hands attacking the hoop, they're big and he took a shot the got blocked," Ostanik said. "It didn't go right to Mike. Three people could've gotten it but Mike was a little bit tougher and stronger and he got it. We can't win if he doesn't come up with the ball."
Seattle had a chance to inbound for a tip-in with half a second on the clock but the pass was errant and the Nanooks erupted in jubilation on the Redhawks court.
Rockett led the Nanooks with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Titus and junior forward Steven Sandles (Vallejo, CA) added 10 points apiece. Freshman Jordan Hayter (Grants Pass, OR) contributed eight points on 4-of-4 shooting off the bench.
The Nanooks used a big first 20 minutes from Rockett to jump to a 35-31 lead at the half. The 6-5 forward hit all four of his three-point attempts en route to 16 points in the first half. His last bucket of the half gave the Nanooks a 30-23 lead with 3:52 on the clock but then SU closed the half with an 8-5 run.
"He got good looks. They were playing him for the bounce," Ostanik said.
Rockett only had seven points in the second half but the Nanooks looked to get the GNAC's leading scorer touches each possession down the court. The forward had back-to-back tough buckets late in the game, the last of which knotted the score at 50 with 5:57 to go.
"I told him, `We are not going to finish this game and lose with you only having eight shots,'" Ostanik said. "We needed him to step up and those two baskets were huge. I always say that you need a guy to make those plays and he made them."
The Nanooks held SU to 39 percent shooting and hounded leading scorer Sam Kirby into 2-of-11 from the floor. White led Seattle with 12 points and four blocks, while Leigh Swanson added 12 of his own.
The back and forth game saw 16 lead changes and the score tied 11 times. Trailing 55-52, the Redhawks got back-to-back baskets from White to take the lead with 1:48 left.
Alaska, which had three turnovers and made just 1-of-4 free throws in final three minutes, missed two freebies by junior Kenny Barker (San Diego, CA) following White's go-ahead score. Kirby then missed a three with 19 seconds left to set up Titus' basket, which essentially erased any mistakes the Nanooks made.
The Nanooks, ranked tenth in the first West Region poll Wednesday, picked up a big boost by defeating the sixth-ranked Redhawks. The top eight schools in the final poll will advance to the NCAA playoffs in March, assuming the GNAC and California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) regular season champions are in the top eight.
Now the Alaska heads to Bellingham, WA to face ninth-ranked Western Washington. Tip-off is at 2:00 p.m. AST Saturday. The game will be broadcast on KCBF 820 AM and streamed on the web at www.820Sports.com.
