Box Score Photo Gallery
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Northwest Nazarene shot just under 46-percent from beyond the arc and had five players score in double figures en route to a 93-83 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball victory against Alaska Thursday night at the Patty Center.
“We looked out of sync in the first half offensively and defensively and unfortunately they didn't,” head coach
Mick Durham said. “I knew we'd have some rough patches with seven days off, but both teams had the same situation, so you can't use that as an excuse.”
The Crusaders (7-4, 1-2 GNAC) were led by
Jonathan Hawkins, who tallied a game-high 19 points.
JB Pillard scored 18 points and
Anthony Golden had 17 points and seven assists, while
Keith Moilanen and
Michal Kurimsky added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Andy Maxwell also brought down a team-best nine rebounds.
NNU shot better than 49-percent (29-59) for the game, including 45.8-percent (11-24) from three-point range. The Crusaders also converted on 24 of 30 free throw attempts. The Nanooks (3-9, 0-2 GNAC) were just over 40-percent (29-72) shooting from the floor, but struggled from long range, making just shy of 24-percent (5-21) of their tries. They also got to the line 27 times, making 20 from the stripe. UAF controlled the boards 44-36, which included a dominating 17-5 advantage on the offensive glass.
“I thought the best thing we did was we were aggressive where we got them in foul trouble to get to the free throw line,” Durham said. “We did win the boards, we had 17 offensive boards, so we battled but were back on our heels early and you can't do that at home. You have to be the aggressor right off the bat.”
Seven different players scored double figures for Alaska, including freshman forward
Jesse Ward (North Pole, Alaska/North Pole) and senior guard
Nico Matthews (Twenty Nine Palms, Calif./College of the Desert), who each posted their first double-doubles of their respective careers.
“I'm not sure I've ever seen a box score like this,” Durham said. “Seven guys in double figures and three that didn't score, so I don't know what to make of that. We've been really trying to develop our bench and it's been a struggle at times.”
Ward scored 12 points and brought down a career-best 11 rebounds, five offensively, in 29 minutes off the bench, while Matthews had 11 points and a career-high 11 boards, to go with his team-high six assists.
Three players tied for a team high with 13 points as junior guard
Dominique Brinson (Juneau, Alaska/College of the Redwoods), sophomore center
Sergej Pucar (Banja Luka, Serbia/Jacksonville College) and freshman center
Daniel Shaw (Cambridge, England/Moulton College) each led the balanced scoring attack. Shaw, whose point total was also career high, added eight rebounds with five coming on the offensive end.
“Daniel finally got fed up with things the last 10 minutes and took it to the hole and scored, so we're trying to develop consistency there,” Durham said. “Sergej got in foul trouble so we had to fight through that. They are our two bigs, so they need to get better but they're making strides.”
Sophomore forward
Stefan Tica (Belgrade, Serbia/Panola College) kept his double-figure scoring streak intact at nine straight games with 11 points, while freshman
Ben Teer (Machias, Maine/Lee Academy) had a career-high 10 points, all of which came in the final 2:04 of the contest.
“I needed to see if Ben could play,” Durham said. “I gave him the last five minutes [in place of Matthews], we're down 18, so I needed to see if he had anything in him and he did. Those five minutes were good.
The game stayed tight early but NNU broke a 13-13 tie with a 10-2 run to grab a 23-15 lead with nine minutes to go in the first. After a Tica layup moments later, the Crusaders scored nine of the game's next 11 points to hold a 32-19 edge with just over six minutes remaining. The lead continued to grow for the visitors and leading 41-31, NNU scored the final seven points in the last 1:27 for a commanding 48-31 halftime lead.
Nazarene opened the second with five straight to up the lead to 53-31 with 18:34 to go, but Alaska answered with nine points in a row over the next 1:59 to climb to within 13 at 53-40. Teams traded baskets for the ensuing eight minutes, but leading 71-57, NNU stretched the lead back to 20 at 80-60 with 4:28 to go after scoring nine of the game's next 12 points.
Trailing 84-67 with just under three to play, Alaska got it back to a 10-point deficit at 86-76 with 1:24 remaining. Timely free throws enabled the Crusaders to stave off the Nanooks as they never allowed the game to get any closer than nine down the stretch.
Alaska returns to the hardwood Saturday at 1 p.m. in the final game of 2011 against Central Washington, which suffered a 99-62 thrashing at 20th-ranked Alaska Anchorage Thursday night.
