FAIRBANKS, Alaska – After taking off nearly three weeks for the holiday season, the Alaska men's basketball team resumes Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this week with a pair of home matchups at the Patty Center.
The Nanooks (3-8, 0-1 GNAC) first take on Northwest Nazarene (6-4, 0-2 GNAC) Thursday evening at 7 p.m., followed by a Saturday matinee against defending conference champion Central Washington (7-3, 1-1 GNAC) at 1 p.m. to close out the 2011 year.
Thursday's contest is Alaska's first home game since Nov. 19 and only the fourth game at the Patty this year after taking the road for the majority of the non-conference season.
“We're excited to get going again,” first-year head coach
Mick Durham said. “It seems like we have been on break for a while and really haven't been at home, so it feels strange like it's our first real game at home since it's been so long. I think the break was really good for us and in the long-haul, I really do like the few days off our guys at Christmas.”
Last time out, the Nanooks opened league play with a heartbreaking 68-62 defeat at then-ranked No. 22 Alaska Anchorage on Dec. 10 at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex in Anchorage.
After trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half, the nationally-ranked Seawolves mounted quite the comeback. Trailing 45-28 with 16:47 to go, UAA hit three treys in a row to trim the deficit to 45-37. The Nanooks got it back to 10 at 51-41, but the Seawolves used a 10-0 run in 3:17 to tie the game and took its first lead at 55-53 with 6:44 to play. After UAF responded with a bucket, UAA took the lead for good on a NBA-length three from
Colton Lauwers.
Center
Taylor Rohde led all scorers with a game-high 24 points and guard
Taylor Fossman posted a career-high 19 points.
Sophomore forward
Stefan Tica (Belgrade, Serbia/Panola College) paced the UAF offense with a team-high 22 points, while junior guard
Dominique Brinson (Juneau, Alaska/College of the Redwoods) tallied 17 points and
Sergej Pucar (Banja Luka, Serbia/Jacksonville College) added 10 points and nine rebounds, respectively.
“Stefan has been our most consistent player, our two big guys in the middle (
Daniel Shaw and Pucar) are still getting better, Dom Brinson has played an awful lot on the perimeter for us and
Nico Matthews is having a nice senior year,” Durham said. “We're trying to get well balanced and trying to develop our depth as we go and I need more confidence in the bench the second half to rest our main guys so we're fresher down the stretch.”
Durham also spoke on areas the team has worked on to prepare for the bulk of the conference schedule.
He continued, “We continue to work on our half-court defense and to get better but still have a long way to go. We're still learning to play without
Jarrett Miller and we're a totally different team. It's been four games without him, so we have made some small adjustments. We're going to continue to try to become more well-rounded on both ends, especially on defense and rebounding.”
COACH DURHAM ON OPPONENTS:
“Both teams are really new teams just like we are,” Durham said. “Nazarene for the most part has two or three guys back and Central has a couple main guys back. Central obviously has the reputation of winning, especially coming off winning the GNAC last year and how they play with Greg Sparling being there a long time.”
Northwest Nazarene at Alaska
When: Thursday, December 29 at 7 p.m.
Where: Fairbanks, Alaska (Patty Center)
Live Stats
Audio: KCBF 820 AM
Video: NMTVSports (Free Streaming)
About Northwest Nazarene: Located in Nampa, Idaho, Northwest Nazarene University was founded in 1913 and has an enrollment of 1,944 students. The Crusaders enter Thursday with a 6-4 record overall and 0-2 mark in the GNAC.
NNU averages 76.2 points per game while allowing 66.3 points in its 10 games this season. As a team, it shoots 47.2-percent from the floor, while its opponents shoot 41.8-percent. The Crusaders do a nice job on the glass, outrebounding opponents by an average of 36.1 to 29.0 rebounds per game.
Three players score in double figures, led by
JB Pillard, who has 16.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
Anthony Golden and
Keith Moilanen also score double figures with 15.7 and 13.9 points, respectively.
Jordan Nicholes leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per game.
Coach: Dave Daniels (Colorado Christian '93) is in his first season at the helm of the NNU men's basketball program after spending the previous six seasons at Colorado Christian. He guided his team to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coach of the Year following the 2007-08 campaign.
Central Washington at Alaska
When: Saturday, December 31 at 1 p.m.
Where: Fairbanks, Alaska (Patty Center)
Live Stats
Audio: KCBF 820 AM
Video: NMTVSports (Free Streaming)
About Central Washington: Located in Ellensburg, Wash., Central Washington was founded in 1891 and has an enrollment of 10,750 students. The Wildcats enter Thursday's game at UAA with a 7-3 record and 1-1 mark in the GNAC.
CWU averages 85.5 points per game while allowing 72.2 points in its first 10 games this year. As a team, it shoots 46.7-percent from the floor, while its opponents shoot 43.4-percent. The Wildcats are also a good rebounding squad, outrebounded the opposition by an average of 40.0 to 33.3 rebounds per game.
They have a balanced offensive attack, as five players are currently averaging double figures.
Toussaint Tyler leads the way with 13.3 points per game, with
Devin Davis not far behind with 13.1 points. Other double-figure scorers include
Brandon Magee (12.2 ppg),
Lacy Haddock (11.1 ppg) and
Jordan Coby (10.5 ppg). Davis is CWU's leading rebounder with 9.5 boards per game, while
Jody Johnson provides nice stats off the bench with 9.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
Coach: Greg Sparling (Central Washington '93) is the third-winningest coach in program history as he is in his 17th season at the helm. The five-time conference Coach of the Year has led the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament in five of the last six seasons and boasts an all-time record of 287-174 entering this weekend's contests.
