Feb. 1, 2007
Box Score
Fairbanks. AK - The Alaska Nanooks couldn't afford to give first place Saint Martin's another Great Northwest Athletic Conference win after dropping their first meeting on the road. Alaska (14-8 overall, 5-3 GNAC) took care of business with a 75-67 win over the Saints (9-10, 6-2) at the Patty Center Thursday and gained crucial ground in the conference race in the process.
"We looked at it as an elimination game," head coach Frank Ostanik said. "If we lost, it would've been very hard to dig ourselves out of that hole. That's how we're winning now. We're hanging around until the half and making it a 20 minute game without foul trouble. I was very concerned that there was a stretch where we couldn't score but Kenny Barker took care of that for us."
Playing with a short bench due to injury, the Nanooks got production from veterans Kenny Barker (San Diego, CA) and Mike Titus to help pick up the pace for leading scorer Jushay Rockett (Long Beach, CA), who was plagued by foul trouble. Barker scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to earn Toyota Player of the Game honors. Titus had 17 points and six boards but it was his lock-down defense on SMU's Jake Linton that really stood out.
"Mike Titus is the defensive player of the year in the league," Ostanik predicted. "I don't think anyone else defends the way he defends. His ability to shut down the opposing teams scoring guard, whether it's Ira Graham at Western (Washington) or Linton, is a difference maker. I should take the blame for the loss at Saint Martin's because if I would've been smart enough to Mike on him then, maybe we win."
Linton, who averaged 18 a game coming into the game, finished with 15 points but had just five in the second half. The 5-10 point, who had 25 points, 10 assists and zero turnovers in the team's first meeting, coughed up the ball five times while handing out just one assist.
Alaska, which won the battle of the boards 37-32, had 19 offensive rebounds. Center Steven Sandles, who scored 11 points, grabbed five on the offensive end, while Titus had four of his own.
Rockett, though limited to 23 minutes on the floor, hit 4-of-6 from the floor including three three-pointers. The 6-5 forward also grabbed six boards and swatted four shots.
"Shay hit some big shots down the stretch," Ostanik said. "Along with Kenny, I thought that was the difference."
The Nanooks trailed 3-0 before mounting a 15-3 run to take control in the first half. A Sandles jumper made it 15-6 at the 13:26 mark of the first half and Alaska held the lead until the half, entering the locker room up 33-27.
The Saints battled back to start the second and pulled within 41-39 on a Trevor Dunstan score with 14:17 to go. Colin Matteson (Lynnwood, WA) answered with a trey but the Saints then went on a 6-0 run. The Nanooks missed two shots and had three turnovers in the run, as the Saints took their first lead since 3-0.
Barker then went to work with six straight points in 8-0 Nanook run to go up 52-45 with 7:39 on the clock. The Saints clawed to within two but Alaska sealed the game with a 13-4 run closed by a Rockett trey and a Titus lay-up plus a free throw. The Nanooks made 8-of-12 free throws the rest of the way to seal it.
The Nanooks held Saint Martin's 11 points under its per game average and won the turnover battle 18-14. That combined with the effort on the boards has Ostanik pleased but cautious heading into Saturday's match-up with Western Oregon, who beat Alaska at home and defeated UAA tonight.
"We're starting to defend pretty well now," he said. "We're very concerned about them being on cloud nine. They should feel like they can beat us because they did beat us. I hope we're not overconfident (because of the three-game win streak). We shouldn't be because they beat us pretty soundly on their floor. We need to come ready for a game."
Western Oregon and Alaska will tip-off at 4:00 p.m. AST Saturday afternoon at the Patty Center following the women's game. For live stats, streaming radio and PPV video visit AlaskaNanooks.com.
