FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- Senior Travante Williams and junior Bangaly Kaba both filled up the stat sheet on Saturday afternoon against Central Washington, as their efforts helped the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team earn an 82-71 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory over the Wildcats at the Alaska Airlines Court.
Williams scored game-best 19 points, while Kaba tallied 17 points, as both players tied for the team-high in rebounds with seven apiece. The duo's contributions were not limited to the offensive side of the ball, as Williams stole a career-high seven steals and blocked a game-best four shots. Kaba was just as impressive on the defensive end, as he collected three steals and swatted two Central Washington (4-2, 0-2 GNAC) shots.
Saturday's victory gives the Nanooks (6-2, 2-0 GNCA) a sweep of the first weekend of GNAC play this season. The 2-0 start is Alaska's first in the GNAC since the 2004-05 season. The pair of victories also moves also to 4-0 at home this season, which marks the first times since 2002-03 the Nanooks have opened the year perfect through four games in Fairbanks. That year Alaska started the year 11-0 at home and picked up their lone championship in the Top of World Classic.
Williams and Kaba were two of four Nanooks in double figures, as Zach Pederson scored a career-high 13 points, while Brandon Davis added 10. The duo helped Alaska to a 27-16 advantage in bench points on Saturday.
"We had a great weekend," said head coach Mick Durham. "To be up 22 at the half, you'd like to get it over with, but that rarely happens. It was good for us to learn how to play with a lead. The second half didn't start out great, we had to fight through something, but we did a really nice job at building the lead back up over the final six minutes. We didn't shoot the ball well all weekend, but we won both. We'll take that and try to get better."
The Nanooks defense was top notch all afternoon, as they limited Central Washington to a 31.3 shooting percentage from the field and forced 17 Wildcat turnovers. Alaska also posted 13 steals on the day, which led to 18 points. The solid defensive effort offset a 61-48 advantage in rebounds for CWU.
The Wildcats took a 14-12 lead after a Drake Rademacher 3-pointer at the 14:05 mark of the first period. The would be the last field goal the Alaska defense would allow over the next 10:35 of game time, as the Nanooks would go on an 18-2 run during that time to take a commanding 30-16 lead.
The elongated defensive stand enabled Alaska to take a 22-point lead into the half, as they led 46-24. The 20-point advantage would not last long into the second half, as Central Washington opened the frame on a 15-2 run to pull within nine points with 14:56 left to play. The Wildcats would make it a two-possession game after a free throw from Joseph Stroud, but Alaska would push its advantage back out to 16 points after a 13-3 spurt that was capped off by a Pederson layup. The Nanooks maintained the double-digit advantage for nearly all of the final 5:34, as they captured the 82-71 victory.
Alaska will continue its four-game home stand next Friday, as they'll host Northwest Indian for a two-game series. The Nanooks will take on NWC on both Friday and Saturday. Tip-off from Alaska Airlines Court is set for 7 p.m. AKST on both days.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter.
