Box Score BURNABY, British Columbia – Despite a career- and game-high 30 points from junior
Dominique Brinson (Juneau, Alaska/College of the Redwoods), Simon Fraser was able to hold off Alaska's furious rally and pick up a 79-71 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball victory Thursday night at the SFU West Gym.
Trailing by as many as 20 points in the second half at 44-24, the Nanooks (4-20, 1-13 GNAC) used a 17-2 run that spanned 4:22 to pull them to within five at 46-41 with 14:45 to play. After the Clan (8-13, 3-10 GNAC) extended the lead back to 10 at 55-45, Alaska used a 14-4 surge to tie the game at 59-59 with 4:14 to go.
With the contest knotted up at 63-63, Simon Fraser scored six in a row for a 69-63 advantage with 2:02 left. After a pair of free throws by sophomore
Stefan Tica (Belgrade, Serbia/Panola), the Clan went 10 for 10 from the charity stripe in the final 1:02 to hold off the Nanooks' rally.
Jordan Sergent led SFU with a team-high 24 points and eight rebounds and converted 10 of 11 from the free throw line.
Justin Brown tallied 18 points and was a perfect nine for nine from the line, while
Zack Frehlick had 13 points.
The Clan shot 43-percent for the game and drained 11 three-pointers, eight in the first half. They also got to the free throw line 24 times in the second half and 28 for the game, converting on 24 tries. SFU turned the ball over only eight times, to Alaska's 10 giveaways.
Brinson, who scored 22 of his career-best 30 in the second half, was 10 of 17 from the floor and made three triples, while sinking seven of eight from the line. Sophomore
Sergej Pucar (Belgrade, Serbia/Jacksonville) and junior
Carthal McDonald (Los Angeles, Calif.) each tallied double figures with 14 and 12 points, respectively, while senior
Nico Matthews posted a double-double with 10 rebounds and 10 assists, one off his career-high in both categories.
The Nanooks shot just under 42-percent from the field and made it to the free throw line just 14 times, sinking 11 attempts. They held the rebounding edge 35-31, but dominated on the offensive glass by a 16-8 margin, resulting in a 10-3 advantage on second-chance points.
Alaska closes the road portion of its regular season Saturday at 15th-ranked Western Washington, which downed No. 17 Alaska Anchorage 59-50 on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Pacific.
