FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team fell victim to an overtime loss for the second time on its four-game home stand, this time suffering a 100-91 defeat to archrival Alaska Anchorage in front of a season-best crowd of 919 fans at the Alaska Airlines Court.
The loss puts the Nanooks at an even 2-2 on their season-long four-game home stand. Alaska is now 12-4 on the year and moves into third place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, as they are now 6-2 in league games. For Alaska Anchorage, they move to 15-4 and remain atop the GNAC standings with a perfect 8-0 record in conference games.
"Tough loss, but I'm proud of my guys," said head coach Mick Durham. "We did a great job in the second half. We did all the things right to win in regulation, but we didn't. I couldn't be prouder of my guys, and we have to handle this tough loss correctly. We have a lot of basketball left to play."
Alaska held a four-point lead at 74-70 with 36 seconds to go in regulation, but the Seawolves got a 3-point field goal from Sekou Wiggs to pull within a point. Senior Travante Williams drilled a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left to give Alaska a 76-73 advantage, but Spencer Svejcar hit a contested three-pointer to send the game to overtime, as UAA pulled even with the Nooks at 76-76.
It would be all Seawolves in the extra period. The teams traded baskets to open the overtime period, but UAA would get back-to-back three-pointers from Svejcar and Brian McGill to take an 84-78 lead. Alaska Anchorage pushed its advantage to 10, as a pair of McGill free throws capped off a 10-0 run.
The Nanooks would not go down fighting, as they pulled within six after a Williams jumper with 1:01 left to play, but Anchorage hit 9 of their final 10 free throws to seal the nine-point victory.
The Nooks got an outstanding performance from junior Brandon Davis, who scored a team-best 21 points. It is the second 20-point outing in Davis' Alaska career, as he previously scored a career-high 22 points at Saint Martin's.
Davis got the Nanooks offense rolling on Saturday, as he hit three-straight 3-point field goals to open the game for Alaska.
Williams turned in a double-double, despite fighting foul trouble through most the night, as he turned in an 18-point, 10-rebound effort. The Anchorage, Alaska native picked up his team-best fifth double-double of the season, three of which have come on this current home stand. Williams also went a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line, as Alaska went 12-of-14 from the charity stripe on the night.
Junior Bangaly Kaba nearly joined Williams in the double-double department, as he finished the game with 14 points and nine rebounds. All 14 of Kaba's points came in the second half. Senior Joe Slocum also registered double-digits by scoring 11 points. The point guard also handed out a game-high six assists.
Alaska hit 11 3-point field goal on the night, which is the most for them in a GNAC game this season. Davis led the way with five trifectas, while Slocum added three.
Alaska Anchorage was led by Sekou Wiggs, who registered a double-double with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Wiggs was one of three 20-point scorers for UAA on the night.
The Nanooks return to action next Thursday, as they travel to Concordia to open a brief two-game road trip. Tip-off from Portland, Oregon is set for 6 p.m.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter.
