University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

Box Score NAMPA, Idaho — For the Alaska men's basketball team Thursday, the third time was the charm.
 
After seeing Northwest Nazarene tie the game twice in a row just seconds before the final buzzer, only to run out of time to win it on their own end, the Nanooks finally had a multi-possession lead late in the third overtime to stave off another Crusaders comeback.
 
Backed by three players scoring over 20 points and a 50.7 percent team shooting percentage, Alaska outlasted Northwest Nazarene Thursday 108-104 in a triple overtime Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at the Johnson Sports Center.
 
Senior guard Ronnie Baker (Vallejo, Calif./Communication) led all players with 26 points, including five 3-pointers. It was Baker's two 3-pointers with less than 30 seconds to play in regulation that brought Alaska (14-8, 9-5 GNAC) back from a late four-point deficit and forced the first extra period.
 
Baker hit a high-arching 3-pointer from the right wing with 25 seconds to play, making it 67-66 in favor of NNU (5-16, 3-10 GNAC). After the Crusaders' Derek Isaak hit both of his free throws with 22 seconds, making it 69-66, Baker hit another clutch trey with only 11 seconds left to tie it at 69-69.
 
Northwest Nazarene dribbled the length of the floor without calling a timeout looking for the game-winning basket after Baker's tying 3-pointer. Mario Donaldson went down the lane and all the way to the hoop and attempted a go-ahead layup, but watched as his shot rolled around the rim and out as the buzzer sounded, sending the game into overtime.
 
Baker was supported by the rest of Alaska's starting cast who all scored in double figures. Senior forward Andrew Kelly (Gilbert, Ariz./Justice) finished with his fifth double-double of the season, scoring a career-high 25 points and pulling down a game-best 15 rebounds. Senior center Sergej Pucar (Belgrade, Serbia/Business Adminstration) had 22 points with a season-high five 3-pointers.
 
In the first OT, junior guard Joe Slocum (San Francisco/Communication) and Kelly accounted for all 11 of the Nanooks' points in the period. Slocum had 16 points in the game to go with seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Senior forward Stefan Tica (Belgrade, Serbia/Business Administration) was in double figures for the third straight game with 14 points.
 
Alaska led by as many as six in the first overtime with less than two minutes to play, but the Crusaders went on a 7-1 run with a 3-pointer from Isaak that cut the lead in half and four free throws, the final two coming from Donaldson to tie it at 78-78.
 
Kelly gave the Nanooks back the lead on a dunk with 35 seconds left, but Michael Loomis' short jumper from the baseline tied it again at 80 apiece with 23 seconds to play. Alaska held the ball for the final possession, but Baker's game-winning 3-point attempt fell short to send it into a second OT.
 
Northwest Nazarene had six players score in double figures, including all five starters. Donaldson led the way for the Crusaders with 24 points. Isaak had 22 and Grayson Moore finished with a double-double on 16 points and 14 boards. Loomis poured in 15 and Matyas Hering had 13 off the bench for NNU.
 
Kevin Rima (14 points, 5 rebounds) fouled out for the Crusaders in the first overtime, leaving them without their starting forward for the final two overtimes. Kelly also fouled out for the Nanooks, but he did not exit the game until less than two minutes left in the third OT.
 
In the second extra period, Alaska again led by as many as six points. The Nanooks started the overtime with a three-point play from Kelly and a 3-pointer from Pucar for six consecutive points out of the gate. But back came Northwest Nazarene again, hitting 3-pointers on three of their next four possessions to take a one-point, 89-88 lead with 1:02 left to play.
 
Tica put the Nanooks back on top with a downtown answer of his own, making it 91-89 with 44 seconds on the clock. Donaldson came through again to tie the game, this time hitting a jumper in the paint with 33 seconds left to tie it at 91-91 and send it to a third overtime.
 
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Slocum and Pucar sandwiching a Donaldson bucket gave Alaska a four-point lead to start the third OT. The Nanooks would push their lead to an overtime-high of eight points with 34 seconds left in the game, seemingly sealing the victory, but Northwest Nazarene still made another charge.
 
The Crusaders began fouling to stop the clock and it paid off, as Alaska could only go 2 for 6 from the free-throw line in the game's final 23 seconds. That allowed NNU to make it a one-possession game on two baskets and two free-throws from Loomis, making it 107-104 with 10 seconds to play.
 
Tica went to the line and made one of his two free-throws to make it a four-point game. On the other end with time running out, Loomis tried leaning in on his 3-point attempt for a potential four-point play, but no foul was called and the basket was long, ending the game.
 
The 108 points were the most Alaska has scored since Dec. 17, 2012, of last season against Multnomah, when it scored 124. It was the most points the Nanooks have scored against a GNAC opponent since March 4, 2010, in a single overtime, 113-105 win over Seattle Pacific.
 
It was only the second time in the Nanooks' 13-season GNAC history that they have played multiple overtimes in a game. The last time came in a double-overtime loss at Montana State Billings, 118-112 on Jan. 17, 2009, making Thursday's three-overtime affair the most extra periods Alaska has played since joining the GNAC in 2001-02.
 
Alaska's 50.7 percent field goal percentage marked the third time in four games it has been better than 50 percent shooting from the floor. The Nanooks outrebounded the Crusaders 44-41, the first time in five games they have out-boarded their opponent.
 
Alaska continues its final road trip of the season at 6 p.m. AKST Saturday in Ellensburg, Wash., against Central Washington (11-10, 7-6 GNAC). The Nanooks defeated the Wildcats earlier this season in Fairbanks in overtime, 84-80 on Jan. 16.