Thursday's GNAC game between Alaska and Seattle Pacific sounded like a great head-to-head match-up on paper.
Parrish West, the conference's top scorer, would face off against Chris Banchero, who ranked third.
But Banchero was hurt after seven minutes on the floor and West was held to just 16 points by a defense that seemed to know his name. The Falcons (8-3, 2-1 GNAC) relied on four other shooters and beat the Nanooks (3-7, 0-3) by 23 points.
Seattle Pacific used a steady 54.7 percent attack from the field to bend and break the Nanooks. After leading 10-8 with 14:34 to play in the first half, the home-court Nanooks lost control of the game to a team that outsized them to the man.
The game was decided at the boards. The Falcons outgrabbed the Nanooks 45-20.
Brett Barkman, who entered the game fourth in the GNAC in rebounds for Alaska, finished with just one rebound.
To their credit, Alaska did play its game. They rank first in steals and finished this game with another nine. They created 25 points off of turnovers.
Jarrett Miller led the team with 19 points.
Aaron Kohring added 12.
The Nanooks will seek their first conference win at home against Montana State Billings Saturday at 3:15 p.m.
