FAIRBANKS – Both the Alaska basketball teams hit the road for a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference games this weekend, with the men taking on Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington while the women go up against Western Washington and Simon Fraser.
Thursday's game between Northwest Nazarene and Alaska will be on ROOT Sports Northwest at 5:00 p.m. AKT, following the Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech women's basketball game.
Men's Basketball
Opponent: Northwest Nazarene
Date: Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015
Live Stats/Watch Live: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/nnu/ or ROOT Sports NW
Opponent: Central Washington
Date: Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015
Live Stats/Watch Live: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/cwu/#
Last weekend, the Nanooks split a series against Simon Fraser and Montana State Billings. Earlier this season, the Nanooks lost a pair of close contests against NNU and CWU at home, by a combined total of six points.
Against MSUB on Valentine's Day, Alaska hit 15 3-pointers throughout the game and were led by Anthony Reese and Kyle Tomlinson who headlined five Nanooks in double-figures as Alaska defeated visiting Montana State Billings, 87-65.
Overall, the Nanooks shot 65.2% from beyond the three-point arc. Tomlinson had four of Alaska's 15 total 3-point field goals while Reese, Ashton Edwards, and Rashaad Allen each had three. Edwards ended the game with 13 points, along with Alex Duncan while Allen finished with 11.
Women's Basketball
Opponent: Western Washington
Date: Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015
Live Stats/Watch Live: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/wwu/
Opponent: Simon Fraser
Date: Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015
Live Stats: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/sfu/#LIVE
Watch Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbabItVyYg0
On Saturday, the women fought hard but were defeated, by Alaska Anchorage who is now ranked No. 1 in the country, 77-61. Earlier this year, the Nanooks were defeated by Simon Fraser and Western Washington at home. The Clan and the Vikings have both clinched berths to the GNAC tournament, a feat the Nanooks are chasing, for the first time in their history.
Alaska currently sits tied for the final playoff spot, and two wins would go a long way towards assuring a first playoff berth.
Against the Seawolves on Saturday Autumn Childers and Cassi Williams led the way each with career-high point totals of 17 and 14 points, respectively. Childers hit seven field goals, many of which came on the fast break, while Williams hit four 3-pointers en route to her career high.
Following these games, both teams will return home for the last weekend of the season. Seniors Benissa Bulaya, Kelly Logue, Rashaad Allen, Anthony Reese and Eric Fongue will be honored.
