LACEY, Wash. – The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team hit 18 of their 19 free throw attempts on Thursday afternoon, and got a 22-point performance from junior Brandon Davis, en route a 79-72 victory over Saint Martins to move to 3-0 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
Thursday's victory marks Alaska's fifth-straight win, as the Nanooks move to 9-2 overall on the year. The Nooks also move to 3-0 in GNAC play, which mark the first time since the 2004-05 season that Alaska has opened the conference portion of its schedule undefeated through three contests. For Saint Martin's, the loss ends their three-game winning streak, as they are now 1-2 in the league and 7-4 overall.
"We needed to prove to ourselves that we could win a game on the road," said head coach Mick Durham. "When going on the road, you have to do a lot of things right, and one of those is hitting your free throws, which we did. It was a sloppy game, both teams hadn't played in over a week, but it feels good to get a win in our first GNAC road game this year, especially after not picking up a conference win on the road all of last year."
Alaska, who entered the game hitting just 66.1 percent from the free throw line, was nearly perfect from the charity stripe, as they went 18-for-19. The Nooks first free throw miss of the day came with just 0.5 seconds remaining on the clock, as they outscored the Saints 18-7 from the line.
"Free throw shooting is something we talked about and keyed on for this trip," Durham explained. "On our last road trip to Billings, the difference in those games was our free throw shooting. We didn't perform well, and I've been telling our team that we have to do better at the line to win games on the road. Another key thing about today is that we kept them off the free throw line. They only shot nine free throws all afternoon, and that was big."
The Nanooks starting five provided all but nine points on Thursday, as three of the five starters were in double-digits. Davis, who was making his third consecutive start, continued his recent hot streak, by turning in a career-best 22-point performance. The guard hit 7-of-13 from the field and went a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line to push his double-digit scoring streak to four games.
Redshirt senior Joe Slocum picked up his first career double-double for Alaska, as the guard tied his career-high in points with 18, and grabbed a career-best 10 rebounds. Senior Travante Williams returned to the double-digit scoring category on Thursday by turning in a 15-point performance. Williams turned things up in the second half, as he scored 11 points in the frame and drilled three clutch 3-point field goals for the Nooks.
Junior Bangaly Kaba pulled down a game-best 11 rebounds to help Alaska to a 46-40 edge in rebounds. The Houston, Texas native was just one point away from a double-double, as he finished with nine points. The Nanooks were dominant in the paint all afternoon, as they outscored the Saints, 36-29.
The two teams were engaged in a back-and-forth battle in the first five minutes of play, as they were knotted up at 8-8. From that point, Alaska would go on a 10-0 run to take an 18-8 lead after a Zach Pederson layup at the 10:49 mark. The Nooks pushed its lead to as many as 13 in the first half, before a 9-0 Saints run made it a four-point game with 2:36 remaining in the half. The Nanooks were able to withstand the SMU run, and took an eight-point lead into the break at 35-27.
Saint Martin's pulled within two points at 46-44 midway through the second half thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Rhett Baerlocher and Tyler Copp. Copp would tie the game up on the next possession, and the teams traded baskets before Copp went 1-of-2 from the free throw line to give his team a 49-48 advantage with 8:26 to play. Alaska would quickly regain a five-point lead, but SMU once again rallied to pull within a point at 63-62, with 2:54 remaining.
From that point, the Nooks scored five straight points thanks to a Kaba floater and a Williams trifecta to give them a six-point lead with 1:50 on the clock. Alaska would go 7-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final 45 seconds of the game to seal the seven-point victory.
The Nanooks will be back in action on Saturday night, as they take on No. 9 Seattle Pacific. Tip-off from Brougham Pavilion is set for 6 p.m.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter.
