March 7, 2008
Box Score
By Matias Saari
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
FAIRBANKS, AK- Travis Kuhns of Western Oregon drove to the hoop hoping to get fouled, and got hammered without question.
Then Colin Matteson of the Alaska Nanooks did likewise, but the anticipated whistle remained quiet.
While dozens of plays affected the outcome Thursday night at the Patty Center, those two in the waning seconds were paramount in the Wolves' 71-68 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory.
Alaska's Mike Titus set up the drama with a second-straight slashing layup that knotted the score at 68-68 with 18 seconds remaining.
But suddenly Kuhns was streaking down the court on a fast break before a hustling Nashorn Maynard sent him to the free throw line with a hard foul in the lane.
"I saw I had the corner on one of their post guys and attacked the basket and made the official make the call," said Kuhns, an 85 percent free-throw shooter who calmly drained both attempts. "(Coach Craig Stanger) talked to us about if they scored to attack them right back while they're not set up."
Alaska coach Clemon Johnson lamented his team getting beat down the court at a crucial time.
"It was 68-68 and I'm hollering because I'm seeing the big guy over by himself and we're celebrating. Nobody's getting back on defense," Johnson said. "We were sitting there celebrating like the game was over."
Down two with 13 seconds left, the Nanooks still had a chance. But Matteson drove the lane and while drawing contact from 7-foot-3 Liam Hughes put up a runner that was never close, bouncing off the rim and backboard.
"Coach told me to just catch it at the top of the key and attack the basket, get a layin or draw the foul," said Matteson, who scored 20 points, 12 of them on free throws. "I thought I had the latter, but calls go either way all game. I'm not going to blame it on that."
"That's my philosophy, make the referee make a call," Johnson said. "I thought it was a foul. Obviously the referee didn't."
Stanger credited his Englishman Hughes, who is 7 inches taller than Matteson and at 310 pounds -- is nearly 100 pounds heavier.
"(Hughes) plugged the middle and forced Matteson to take a tough shot," Stanger said. "One of the things that he doesn't get credit for (statistically) is shot alterations. Countless shots get altered because of his presence."
The Nanooks had one final gasp, as with 2.4 seconds to go, Western Oregon guard Brad Krichevsky made the first free throw but missed the second. Alaska's Kevin Atkins then grabbed his game-high 15th rebound, but his desperation heave from beyond half court missed everything, and the Wolves salvaged a split of their season series with the Nanooks.
"I felt like the game was definitely in our grasp. We just couldn't close it out," said Matteson, whose squad slipped to 5-21 overall and 2-15 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
"We feel grateful to get the win and get out of here," said Stanger of WOU (15-11, 8-9).
The 182 fans at the Patty Center witnessed a seesaw contest that was tied 35-35 at halftime. And the Nanooks didn't go away despite losing starting point guard Keven Campbell at halftime and seeing backup point guard Bobby Pico leave the court due to recurrent back pain with 7 minutes remaining and Alaska trailing 60-54.
"I tweaked it when I got a steal, and I tried to play through it. I just couldn't, so I pulled myself out," Pico said.
With Pico getting an emergency injection in the training room, Titus took over in a rare stint at point guard. The senior co-captain, in his second-to-last game, scored a game-high 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting including three 3-pointers. The rest of the Nanooks shot just 28 percent for the game.
With Alaska trailing 68-64, Pico returned with 1:30 remaining, and Titus -- back in his usual wing position -- knotted the score with two drives.
Pico, a freshman from Barrow, said he is excited to return next season.
"Hopefully this summer I'll get healthy and have a much better year next year," Pico said.
As for Campbell, a freshman who redshirted last year, not even Johnson knows his status.
After a scoreless first half in which he had two assists and four turnovers, Campbell got in an argument with "somebody" during the halftime break.
"I couldn't get him to cool off, so I just told him to go home," Johnson said, adding that the argument was not with a Nanooks teammate or coach. "I couldn't concentrate. He was disrupting my team."
That left the Nanooks with just eight players, and two of them -- Pico and forward Mladen Begojevic -- were playing in pain.
"If we were driving a car, we'd be on fumes," Johnson said.
The Nanooks conclude their season with a 3 p.m. matinee Saturday against Saint Martin's. The Saints fell 100-98 in overtime Thursday at Alaska Anchorage, which clinched the Seawolves at least a share of the GNAC title.
The last meeting between the Nanooks and Saints -- Jan. 3 in Lacey, Wash. -- was also a wild contest won by Saint Martin's 90-86 in overtime. The Nanooks finished that game with just four players because the other five fouled out. Alaska was whistled for 39 fouls in all (to Saint Martin's 20) which resulted in 50 free throw attempts for the Saints. Guard Jake Linton, who leads the nation at 96 percent from the charity stripe, made all 18 of his tries that night.
Titus, the Nanooks' lone senior, will be recognized in a brief ceremony before Saturday's contest.
