Box Score FAIRBANKS – Despite a five point lead at halftime, the Alaska men's basketball team fell to Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Seattle Pacific, 74-64, in a tense contest at the Patty Center, Thursday night.
The Nanooks have now lost nine straight games and fall to 5-16 overall and 2-11 in the conference in defeat while the Falcons improve to 17-7 on the season and 9-5 in the league.
Almir Hadzisehovic and Ashton Edwards led the Nanooks with 14 points, while the duo of Cory Hutsen and Mitch Penner were SPU's top performers with respective point tallies of 20 and 18.
"For as well as we shot the ball in the first half, that didn't translate to the second," said head coach Mick Durham. "We didn't turn the ball over much and played pretty well defensively. We just got beat. They're a good team and they showed why in that second half."
Alaska shot 51.6% from the field and made five 3-pointers in the first half, en route to a 40-35 lead at the break. However, in the second half, the Nanooks made just eight field goals and shot under 30% (28.6%) as they fell behind and could not come back.
"We played with confidence in that first half," continued Durham. "We came out of the gates great and played a good 20 minutes. In the last eight minutes I think we just got worn down a little bit."
Edward, reiterated what his coach said, stating, "We lost our power offensively in the second half, and they picked up their tempo at both ends."
Despite the nine game losing skid, Edwards remains positives saying, "It is frustrating, no one likes to lose. But we have a good team and we stick together. Most of our losses have been by ten points or fewer so we know we are right there. We just have to keep playing like we did in the first half today."
Hadzisehovic, who led the Nanooks with six field goals in scoring 14 points, also had five rebounds and a game-high five blocks. The forward also picked up two assists.
Guards Anthony Reese and Alex Duncan both scored 10 points for Alaska. Reese had three rebounds, two assists and a steal to go with his tally while Duncan had four rebounds, four assists and a steal.
The Nanooks will look to end their losing streak against Montana State Billings on Saturday at the Patty Center. Tipoff for that GNAC contest is set for 1:00 p.m.
