FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- Alaska Nanooks head men's basketball coach Mick Durham collected his 300th career win on Saturday night, as the Nooks defeated Northwest Indian College, 117-70, to complete a weekend sweep of the Eagles at the Alaska Airlines Court.
Durham becomes just the third NCAA head coach to win his 300th career game this season, and the second one to accomplish the feat at the NCAA Division II level. Durham entered this season needing just eight wins to get his 300th win, and the Nanooks were able to give it to him right before the Holiday break, as Alaska is off to its best start since the 2002-03 season. With the win, the Nooks are now 8-2 on the year.
"I don't know if it's sunk in yet or not," said Durham when asked about his feelings after the win. "I've been a head coach at the NCAA level for 21 years, and an assistant for 11, so it's kind of a neat thing to do, especially just at two schools, which I think is the cool part about it. I haven't been too many places, and I'm very appreciative for the opportunity Alaska has given me to come up here and allow me to get this 300th win."
Durham has collected 54 wins during his five years with the Nanooks. Prior to that, he was the head man for 16 years at NCAA Division I Montana State, where he amassed 246 victories. The 246 wins he achieved with the Bobcats is still the all-time record in the Big Sky Conference.
The Nanooks one again got a balanced performance from its roster on Saturday night, as 11 of the 12 players who played scored. Junior Bangaly Kaba once again led the team in points, has he had a 20-point outing for the second consecutive night. Kaba was 8-of-9 from the field and went 3-for-3 at the charity stripe.
Kaba was one of five players to score double-digits for against Northwest Indian (0-15). Brandon Davis recorded his second-straight double-digit scoring game, as he recorded 18 points in just his second career start. Davis and Kaba were two of the four starters to record double-digits in the scoring category, as Almir Hadzisehovic tallied 12 points and Joe Slocum posted 10. Junior Neal Chavez came off the bench to post a career-high 19 points. Chavez's effort led to a 50-22 advantage in points off the bench.
"You have to give Northwest Indian credit in those first 10 minutes of the game," stated Durham. "They really showed up and made some shots and had us on our heels. We regrouped and played well over the last 30 minutes. We got off to a run at the end of the first half and that extended into the second half, which allowed us to play everyone again. These two games allowed us an opportunity to get on the court again before we go on break, and we were able to play everyone, so we're happy about how the weekend went."
The game was knotted up at 27-27 at the 9:49 mark of the first after an Austin Miller jumper. From that point, the Nooks went on a 21-6 run to a 15-point lead after a Slocum jumper with 3:49 remaining in the game. Alaska went up by 23 after a Davis trifecta, but a buzzer-beating layup from Kacy Green put the Nooks lead at 63-42 going into the break.
The lead hovered around 20 points for Alaska over the first three minutes of the second half, and the Nanooks turned up the pressure on the Eagles, as they went on a 22-3 run to take a commanding 43-point lead with 10:50 remaining. The Nooks extended the lead to as high as 48 points in the second half, before capturing the 117-70 victory.
The 117 points scored by the Nooks tonight marks a season-high, as Alaska has now recorded 100-plus points in three games this season. The Nanooks shot over 50 percent for the second-straight night, as they connected on 56.3 percent of their shots.
Alaska will now take an extended break over the Holidays, as they'll return to Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on Dec. 31 at Saint Martins.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter.
