Feb. 22, 2007
Box Score
Seattle, WA - The Alaska men faced a do-or-die situation on the road at nationally ranked #25 Seattle Pacific Thursday night with a potential NCAA berth on the line. The Nanooks (17-10 overall, 8-5 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) rose to the challenge and knocked off the Falcons (16-9, 9-5) with a down-to-the-wire 75-70 win at Royal Brougham Pavilion.
"This is special for a lot of reasons," head coach Frank Ostanik said. "It shows once again, not that we need to prove it to anyone anymore, the resiliency of our guys. They could've folded after Saturday (50-48 home loss to Seattle) but they came back and played with great energy, great focus and great toughness. I'm real proud of them."
Kenny Barker (San Diego, CA) scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to help Alaska earn a rare win on SPU's home floor. In the last three seasons, the Falcons were 36-3 at Royal Brougham prior to the five-point loss to the Nanooks.
"I don't know how many times we've won here ever but I know it's not a common occurrence," Ostanik said. "It's a big deal and it keeps in the race. We had two feet in the grave after last Saturday. Now we've got a leg out and now we'll try to get the other one out Saturday."
The Alaska win, coupled with other GNAC results, created a logjam atop the conference standings. The University of Alaska Anchorage, who bumped off Central Washington, is tied with SPU for first place at 9-5. Alaska, Central and Seattle University are all a half-game back at 8-5. The Nanooks play at Central Washington on Saturday, while Anchorage is at Seattle Pacific and Seattle hosts Northwest Nazarene. The winner of the GNAC receives an automatic bid to the NCAA West Regional.
The short-handed Nanooks had four starters play 33 minutes or more but got all the production they needed from the first five. Junior guard Mike Titus (Fairbanks, AK) had 16 points, junior post Steven Sandles (Vallejo, CA) had a double-double and senior Jushay Rockett (Long Beach, CA) just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Sandles had 13 points and a career-high 14 boards, while matching up against 6-11 widebody Rob Will inside. The 6-8 Sandles helped his team to dominance on the glass, as Alaska out-boarded the Falcons 39-21 including a 19-5 advantage on the offensive end. Sandles grabbed eight offensive boards to help Alaska to a 19-2 edge in second chance points.
Point guard Barry Barnes, Jr. (Long Beach, CA) ran the Alaska offense efficiently (only 12 team turnovers) with nine points, four assists, three steals, two rebounds and zero turnovers in 33 minutes.
Dustin Bremerman paced the Falcons with 23 points and Will added 15 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots. Marques Echols came off the bench to contribute 11 points and five assists.
Seattle Pacific lost despite out-shooting Alaska 53 percent to 42 percent. The loss snapped an SPU streak of 29 games without a loss when it has shot 50 percent or better. The Nanooks made up for the disparity with the aforementioned control of the boards and also doubled the Falcons' point total from the foul line. Alaska made 20-of-25 at the stripe compared to 10-of-13 for SPU.
Despite shooting 9-of-27 from the field in the first half, the Nanooks held a 33-25 lead at the break. The Falcons, who shot a scorching 64 percent in the final half, took one point leads on two occasions but Barker quickly erased them with three-pointers.
Trailing 49-48 after a Will lay-up, Barker nailed a triple. The Falcons answered back with a Rob Diedrichs three-point play to go back up one but Barker again nailed trey to make it 54-52 and start an 8-2 run.
"Kenny was great tonight," Ostanik said. "He shot the heck out of it and his numbers were remarkable. He stepped up."
The Falcons had no plans of going quietly and tied the game at 59 apiece on a Casey Reed lay-in. This time it was Barnes, not Barker, who hit a big three with 4:01 left and started a 9-2 surge. Barnes' jump shot with 1:32 left capped the run and gave Alaska a 68-61 lead.
SPU pulled to within 70-67 lead on a Drew Matzen three and Barker missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 35 seconds left. But Rockett got the rebound and Barker was fouled. He then sank four free throws and Titus hit 1-of-2 in the final 25 seconds to counter another Matzen three.
"We just did so many great things tonight," Ostanik said. "Our guys wanted to win. They don't have to prove anything anymore. They're a pleasure to coach."
The Nanooks travel to Ellensburg, WA, Saturday to face Central Washington at 6 p.m. AST. Central defeated Alaska 79-72 at the Patty Center earlier in the season.
"We've got to approach that game the same way we did this one: with desperation and great focus and energy," Ostanik said.
