Box Score LAIE, Hawaii - Okesene Ale drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to dash the Nanooks hopes of a stunning upset and gave third-ranked Brigham Young-Hawaii a 66-65 men's basketball victory Friday night.
The Nanooks (1-6) led 64-60 with 3:15 to play after a layup by senior guard
Jarrett Miller (North Pole, Alaska/West Hills CC), but a jumper by Brady Hurst 34 seconds later cut the lead back to two.
Both teams struggled over the next two and half minutes, missing a combined four field goals and two free throws to keep the score idle. Jet Chang was fouled with seven ticks remaining and after missing the first attempt, he hit the second to bring the Seasiders (1-4) to within a point at 64-63.
Junior guard
Dominique Brinson (Juneau, Alaska/College of the Redwoods) was fouled immediately with five seconds on the clock. After the first try from the charity stripe was off the mark, he made the second to bring the lead back to two.
On the ensuing possession, Hurst found Ale, who converted the trey which broke the hearts of the Nanooks and allowed BYU-H to notch its first win of the season. It was the only three Ale made all night as he finished with five points.
Chang scored a game-high 24 points to lead BYU-H's attack and Hurst contributed 16 points and eight rebounds, with six coming on the offensive glass, while Bracken Funk added 11 points and eight boards.
Miller led Alaska with a team-high 20 points and six assists and sophomore forward
Stefan Tica (Belgrade, Serbia/Panola College) tallied 13 points. Sophomore center
Sergej Pucar (Banja Luka, Serbia/Jacksonville College) and freshman center
Daniel Shaw (Cambridge, England/Moulton College) each had 10 points, respectively. Pucar also posted a team-high seven rebounds.
Alaska shot 45.6-percent (26-57 FG) from the floor to BYU's 41.8-percent (23-55 FG). The Seasiders controlled the boards with a 39-29 advantage, including 13-6 offensively.
BYU-Hawaii opened the game on 24-9 run in the first 8:47. The Nanooks came back with an 11-3 run to trim the lead to 27-20 with just over five to go before halftime. BYU-H regained a double-digit advantage less than two minutes later and would lead 40-30 at the break.
Trailing 45-32 just over a minute into the second half, Alaska scored eight of 10 to cut the margin back to seven at 47-40 with 14:55 to go. After a three-pointer by Chang, UAF tied the ballgame at 52-52 with a 12-2 surge.
The game remained tight, but Alaska took the lead after Miller drained a pair of free throws with 8:51 left. The 'Nooks led by four on four different occasions late, until the Seasiders rallied for the buzzer-beating victory.
Alaska returns to action tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. when it faces Hawaii-Hilo in Hilo, Hawaii.
