Box Score
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The Nanooks had to dodge a half court heave as time expired, but managed to even their GNAC record at 1-1 with a home victory against Northwest Nazarene Saturday night at the Patty Center with an 88-86 win.
Alaska's offense looked like a well-oiled machine tonight with four players scoring in double figures, led by 27 from Jon Moe and 22 from Emmanuel Jenkins.
The Blue and Gold reached the half-century mark in the first half powered by 56.8 percent shooting from the field. They took a nine point lead to the locker room at 50-41 as Moe and Jenkins had 35 of those 50 points.
"I tell Emmanuel [Jenkins] we are going to put the ball in his hand and he has to create," Coach Clemon Johnson said. "He can beat his man 90 percent of the time, and that causes problems for the defense."
Jenkins did just that, and found his teammates like Moe and Colin Matteson, who poured in 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench.
"I like Colin off the bench because he is giving us some strength from the bench" Johnson stated. "I don't know if that's exactly what he wants to be doing because it is his senior year, but we can't have our five best players on the court at one time."
Matteson was the Toyota Player of the Game.
Northwest Nazarene outscored the Nanooks by seven in the second half, but their 40-foot shot as time expired went begging and the Blue and Gold held on to earn their first GNAC win of the season.
Alaska improves to 4-7 (1-1 GNAC) and will now host Alaska-Anchorage on Jan. 14th at the Patty Center. Tip is at 7:00 p.m.
