Box Score
FAIRBANKS, AK - Alaska's hot start was not enough as rival Alaska Anchorage downed the Nanooks 56-42 at the Patty Center on Saturday night. Alaska jumped out to an early 14-2 lead but could not hold on and dropped their fourth straight game.
Alaska (6-12, 1-8) stormed out of the gate and opened up a 7-0 lead before Alaska Anchorage (13-6, 4-4) got on the board. The Nanooks held the Seawolves without a point for the first 4:18 of the contest before Casey Robinson hit two free throws to stop the bleeding.
Alaska Anchorage finally was able to hit their first field goal after going dry in their first six attempts, which spanned the first 7:08 of the half.
The Nanooks held a seven point lead or more for most of the half but Alaska Anchorage was able to make a run late. A Brandon Walker layup cut the Nanook lead to only one with a little over five minutes left and Donnie Lao tied the game two possessions later with a three-pointer.
Walker gave the Seawolves their first lead with 2:40 left in the half after a steal and score to make it 20-18 in favor of the visitors. The Seawolves finished the half on a 19-4 run for the 25-20 lead after 20 minutes.
After a hot start the Nanooks cooled off and only shot 31% (8-of-26) for the half and were led by
Emmanuel Jenkins' (Tacoma, WA)' 11 points.
William Edwards (Fairbanks, AK) picked up a team-high three rebounds after a half of play.
The Seawolves went into the break shooting 38% (9-of-24) from the field with Walker picking up eight points. Nick Pacitti pulled down five rebounds as Alaska Anchorage out rebounded Alaska 19-13.
The Nanooks and Seawolves traded baskets to open up the second before Alaska Anchorage ran off a 10-0 run to build their lead to 15, 42-27, with 12 minutes to play in the game.
Alaska closed the gap to 12 on several occasions but the Seawolves never let the Nanooks cut the deficit to single digits.
Alaska finished the game shooting only 32% (18-of-52) and only connected on 2-of-16 three-point chances.
Nashorn Maynard (Saint Paul's, Saint Kitts) and Jenkins were the only Nanooks to reach double-figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Joe Powell (Englewood, NJ) was the teams leading rebounding with eight rebounds, three of them on the offensive glass.
Alaska Anchorage finished the game shooting 37% (17-of-46) from the field as they also out rebounded the Nanooks 40-31. Brandon Walker shot 5-of-9 from the field and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe for a game-high 20 points. Donnie Lao was the only other Seawolves player to reach double-figures with 11 points, hitting 3-of-7 from downtown.
Three Seawolves picked up eight rebounds, which included Pacitti, Walker and Robinson. Alaska Anchorage also scored 20 points off 16 Nanook turnovers.
Alaska will return to action on Thursday when Central Washington visits the Patty Center for the second the Nanooks three game home stand. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. AKT.
