Box Score FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Despite shooting better than 50-percent from the floor, the Alaska men's basketball team dropped an 85-77 decision to Lindenwood in overtime in the final game of the 2011 GCI Alaska Invitational on Saturday at the Patty Center.
"I thought we got better each game, but now we have to learn how to win," head coach
Mick Durham said. "We have to learn to win as a group. I didn't know last week at San Francisco State if we'd know how to win late and we pulled that one out. We still have to figure some things out down the stretch."
Trailing 73-69 with 37 seconds to play in regulation, sophomore forward
Stefan Tica (Belgrade, Serbia/PanolaCollege) drained a three from the corner to trim the lead to just one with 22 ticks left. On the ensuing possession Lindenwood turned the ball three seconds later after Kramer Soderberg threw an ill-advised pass out of bounds when he was double teamed.
With a chance to win it, the ball was fed to sophomore center
Sergej Pucar (Banja Luka, Serbia/Jacksonville College) and Efkan Eren fouled the big man with just over 10 seconds remaining sending him to the line. Pucar missed the first but hit the second to tie it at 73.
With time ticking down, Alex Bazzell drove through the lane, but his fade-away jumper was long off the back iron to force overtime.
In the extra period, the teams traded points, but with the game tied at 77, Lindenwood got a three-pointer from Bazzell and free throws down the stretch as Alaska was held without a point for the final 3:18.
The Lions (4-1) were led by Soderberg, who tallied a game-high 35 points on 14 of 19 shooting. Bazell contributed 16 points, with 14 coming in the second half and overtime, while Eren had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Senior guard
Jarrett Miller (North Pole, Alaska/West Hills CC) led the Nanooks (1-4) with 26 points, one shy of his career record, after making 11 of 16 from the floor. He was named to the GCI Alaska Invitational All-Tournament team following the game. Pucar and Tica joined Miller in double-figure scoring with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Both teams made at least half of its shots for the game as Alaska was 50.8-percent (32-63 FG), while Lindenwood was 50-percent (32-64 FG) from the floor. While LU converted three of five in overtime, the 'Nooks struggled, making just one shot on six attempts.
The Lions won the rebounding battle 34-32 and forced 13 Alaska turnovers, while they only gave it away eight times.
The Nanooks came out in the first half on fire jumping out to a 32-15 lead with 9:55 to go before halftime. Lindenwood got back into it with a 9-1 run to cut the lead back to single digits at 33-24 with 6:49remaining. Alaska led 44-38 at the break.
The 'Nooks led 50-41 early in the second, but a 10-2surge by the visitors cut the lead to one at 52-51 with 14:11 to play. UA got the lead back to seven at 61-54 at the halfway point but LU answered with an11-4 run to knot it up at 65 apiece with 4:13 left.
After a layup by Miller to give the home team the lead back, Lindenwood knocked down back-to-back threes to take the lead.
The Nanooks return to action next weekend (Nov. 24-26) when they travel to the Islands of Hawaii for a three-pack of non-conference matchups against Hawaii Pacific, BYU-Hawaii and Hawaii-Hilo.
GCI Alaska Invitational All-Tournament Team
Ryan Dougherty, Southwest Baptist
Preston Guiot, Southwest Baptist
Jarrett Miller, Alaska
Kramer Soderberg, Lindenwood
Travis Spahr, Tiffin
Most Valuable Player: Karl Finley, Tiffin
