University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

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FAIRBANKS, Alaska — The Alaska men's basketball team will be back in Lacey, Wash., this March.
 
The Nanooks clinched their second straight trip to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship Tournament Saturday with a balanced attack and stout defense, defeating visiting Saint Martin's 66-46 at the Patty Center.
 
The win secures that Alaska (16-9, 11-6 GNAC) will finish no worse than fourth in the GNAC standings and will receive either a No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the GNAC Tournament next month depending on the outcome of next week's regular season finale against rival Alaska Anchorage.
 
Nine different players scored at least three points for Alaska, and 10 Nanooks grabbed at least one rebound. Senior forward Stefan Tica (Belgrade, Serbia/Business Administration) led Alaska with his sixth straight double-digit scoring night and eighth in his last 11 games, scoring 12 points with three 3-pointers. Tica has made a 3-pointer in 13 straight games and has at least two in six consecutive contests.
 
Junior guard Joe Slocum (San Francisco/Communication) scored 11 and dished four assists, and senior guard Ronnie Baker (Vallejo, Calif./Communication) poured in 10 and also had four helpers and two steals.
 
Alaska held Saint Martin's (8-16, 5-11 GNAC) to just 15 points on 24 percent shooting in the first half. It was the least amount of points the Nanooks have allowed in the first half since Dec. 2, 2006, when they limited Golden Baptist to 10 points in the opening stanza. The Saints went 6 for 25 from the field, including 3 of 12 from downtown, and did not attempt a single free throw during the game's first 20 minutes.
 
Alaska forced 16 turnovers with nine steals and got 20 points off of them. The Nanooks outshot SMU 44.7 percent to 33.3 percent and made 14 more free throws on 17 more attempts, going 17 for 22 from the line compared to the Saints' 3 for 5 showing. Saint Martin's outrebounded Alaska 34-30.
 
The Saints opened the game with a 5-0 run on a 3-pointer from Evan Coulter and a layup by Ryan Rogers, but that was the only lead they would hold in the game. The Nanooks answered with a 19-3 run to gain a double-digit lead and never look back. Alaska would double up SMU at halftime, leading 30-15 heading into the break.
 
Coulter entered Saturday as the Saints' leading scorer but was limited to eight points in the game, only two of which were in the second half. Will Bond led Saint Martin's with 14 points off the bench. He scored all of his points in 13 minutes of playing time in the second half, going 5 for 8 from the field with two 3-pointers.
 
The Saints started the second half with a 13-4 run that cut their deficit to six at 34-28, but they would get no closer. Alaska responded by pushing its lead up to 17 with a 14-3 run that included six points from Slocum.
 
The Nanooks grabbed their first 20-point advantage with 6 minutes, 26 seconds left in the game on a layup from Baker that made it 57-37. Their largest lead came 3:22 later when Tica hit his final trey of the game, making it 63-42 in favor of Alaska.
 
Saturday's score was nearly identical to the score Alaska defeated Saint Martin's by earlier this season in Lacey, Wash. The Nanooks defeated the Saints 64-47 on ROOT SPORTS' GNAC Game of the Week on Jan. 23.
 
Saturday's win gave Alaska its most conference wins (11) since 2004-05 and matched its overall wins total (16) from last season. It also was the Nanooks' 10th home win this season. Over the past two seasons, Alaska has gone 20-5 at the Patty Center.
 
The Nanooks now prepare for their regular season finale at 7 p.m. Thursday when they host rival Alaska Anchorage. The winner of the game will earn the No. 3 seed in the GNAC Tournament, scheduled for March 5-8 at Saint Martin's Marcus Pavilion.