Box Score
LACEY, Wash. - It was a tough night on the road for the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team as a sloppy first half proved detrimental to their efforts and they dropped their Great Northwest Athletic Conference match-up against Saint Martins, 89-61, Thursday night at Marcus Pavilion.
Led by the Toyota Player of the Game, senior forward Collin Matteson with 10 points and six rebounds, the Blue and Gold also got 10-point performances from Nashorn Maynard and Aaron Jones.
The Nanooks were in the game mid-way through the first half, trailing by just three points at 10:35. However, Alaska would go on to record 10 of their 17 first-half turnovers in the remaining nine minutes and 25 seconds, to give the Saints, who recorded just six turnovers in the first 20 minutes, a 49-31 advantage on the scoreboard as the teams headed into the lockerrooms for the intermission.
In an 18-point hole from the start of the second half, There was little the Nanooks could do to erase their first-half fumbles as SMU kept the game out of reach for the rest of the game. Alaska was outscored 40-30 in the second half by their hosts.
The 24-11 turnover disadvantage was exacerbated by cold offensive nights for Nanooks guards Emmanuel Jenkins and Jon Moe, who prior to Thursday's contest averaged 19.8 points per game and had each recorded more than 30 points in last Saturday's overtime loss against Montana State Billings.
For the Saints, four players recorded double-digits offensively, led by Bill Richardson who finished the game with 16 points and Blake Poole, who notched a double-double for points and rebounds with 14 apiece.
Alaska returns to conference play on Saturday in Monmouth, Oregon where they will meet the Western Oregon Wolves at 6 p.m. AKST. The game will be broadcast live on the internet via KCBF 820 Sports.
