Box Score Game 1
Box Score Game 2
FAIRBANKS, AK - The Alaska Nanooks opened up the season on Thursday night at the Fairbanks Youth Sports Alaska Invitational and dropped a heartbreaker to Dominican College 73-67. The Chargers used clutch foul shooting and timely rebounds to defeat the Nanooks in front of a rowdy Patty Center crowd of 505.
The Chargers jumped out to an early 13-6 lead off a Zach Huston lay-in with 14 minutes remaining in the half but the Nanooks answered right back with a
Nashorn Maynard (Saint Paul's, Saint Kitts) lay-in the next trip down the floor to cut the lead to five.
Dominican started the half red-hot as they shot 53% (8 of 15) from the field in the first six minutes of action to fuel their offense. The Charger defense was just as impressive as they held the Nanooks to only 33% shooting (4 of 12) and out rebounded Alaska 9-6.
The Nanooks closed the lead to three after two
Parrish West (Chicago, IL) free throws to make the score 24-21. The Nanooks were aided by an 11-4 run which saw Dominican go scoreless for 3:38 of that run.
Back-to-back three-point field goals by
Emmanuel Jenkins (Tacoma, WA) tied the game at 29 with 2:29 left in the half before Dominican silenced the Patty Center crowd with a 5-0 run of their own.
The Nanooks finished the half strong with three straight defensive stops and a lay-in from West to cut the lead to one, before a Charger basket gave them the three point edge going into halftime, 36-33.
West led all scorers at the half with 11 points and was a perfect 7 of 7 from the free throw line. Dominican shot 48% from field for the half and out rebounded the Nanooks 20-18 but only held a slim lead.
In the second half, the Chargers stretched the lead to 11 at the 14:01 mark on a Mike Calzonetti lay up which marked the biggest lead of the game for either team.
The Nanooks battled back again and cut the score to seven on a lay-in from Jenkins with 12:30 left in the game. Jenkins' lay-in snapped a 4:34 scoreless streak for the Nanooks.
Jenkins continued to be the hot hand for the Nanooks as he came right back in the next possession and hit his third three-pointer of the game to make the score 51-46 in favor of Dominican.
The Nanooks and Chargers traded baskets for much of the second half and the Nanooks cut the lead to only one on a Parish West tip in with a little over two minutes left in the game.
The Chargers built their lead back to 5 with 1:38 to go, but with :50 left in the game Jenkins pulled up from the right wing and hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to one. The Chargers came back and sealed the win when Zach Huston got the basket and the foul with :17 left on the clock.
Emmanuel Jenkins led the Nanooks with 23 points on 9 of 16 shooting while teammate Parish West chipped in 19 points and eight rebounds. Nahorn Maynard was the other Nanook in double-figures with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Dominican was led by four players with double-digit points. Zach Huston had a team-high 16 while Leon Porter (12), Brendan McManus (10), and Almin Hodzic (10) also had double figure points. Hodzic led all players with 12 rebounds.
The Nanooks and Chargers will return to action tomorrow night when they compete in the second session of the Fairbanks Youth Sports Alaska Invitational. Dominican will take on California (PA) at 5:15 p.m. while Alaska will battle Bloomfield College at 7:30 p.m.
Bloomfield College 94, California (PA) 66
The Bloomfield College Deacons defeated the Vulcans of California University (PA) in the early game of the inaugural Fairbanks Youth Sports Alaska Invitational at the Patty Center. The Deacons used 35 points from Gage Daye to top the Vulcans.
The Deacons jumped out to a 43-29 halftime lead, which was led by Daye with 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting. The Vulcans trailed 23-22 before a scoreless drought that lasted 10:25; a Travis Williams three-point basket got the Vulcans back on the board.
Bloomfield also outscored the Vulcans 51-37 in the second half en route to the 94-66 victory.
Daye led all scorers with 35 points on 12 of 19 shooting, knocking down four three-point field goals and going a perfect 7 of 7 from the charity stripe. Gage also grabbed a team-high six rebounds as the Deacons out rebounded the Vulcans 39-22.
Andrew Young led the Vulcans with 16 points on 6 of 8 shooting and Kelsey Williams chipped in 14 points for the Vulcans
