Box Score
Emmanuel Jenkins (Tacoma, WA) had a career high 32 points for the Nanooks as they defeated Virginia State 77-73 in Saturday’s Glacier Classic for their second consecutive win.
Jenkins had 20 points in the first half and helped Alaska build a 41-33 advantage heading into the locker room. Virginia State was unable to stop Jenkins from penetrating the lane which was why the undersized Nanooks outscored the Trojans 24-11 in the paint. Jenkins was 9-12 from the field in the first twenty minutes.
Nashorn Maynard (Saint Paul, Saint Kitts) was able to stay on the floor in the first half of Saturday’s game, unlike the previous night because of foul trouble. He had four points and seven rebounds at the half. Maynard would finish with 14 points and 11 rebounds, his fourth double double of the season.
The second half lead would grow as big as 13, and Alaska had an 11 point lead with just 3:45 seconds to go, however the Nanooks kept the Trojans in the game with costly turnovers down the stretch.
A lay-up by Ricardo Lipscomb of VSU trimmed the Alaska lead to just two points with five seconds to go, but Jenkins, the Toyota Player of the Game, iced the victory with two huge free throws and gave the Nanooks a four point victory and back-to-back wins.
Despite committing 25 turnovers and getting outscored 29-15 on bench points, Alaska defended their home court and improved their record to 2-6. The Blue and Gold outscored VSU 46-24 in the paint for the game. The Nanooks had three players to score in double figures as Kevin Buggs (Compton, CA) joined Jenkins and Maynard as he finished with 10 points on 5-7 shooting.
Up next for Alaska is Saint Leo on Thursday night at the Patty Center as the Nanooks look to extend their winning streak. Tip off is at 7:00 p.m.
