FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Freshman forward Michael Kluting recorded his first double-double while wearing a Nanook jersey on Monday night, as the Alaska men's basketball team defeated the Trinity Western Spartans 81-59 in a nonconference matchup at the Alaska Airlines Court. The Nanooks move to 6-5 overall mark on the season (1-1 GNAC), while the Spartans fall to 2-11 overall (2-9 CWUAA).
"Not playing in two weeks, you could see the rust a little bit tonight. The first ten minutes was a battle but I thought we did some good things, defensively I thought we were pretty solid all night," head coach Mick Durham said following Monday's contest. "Their one player got away from us a little bit but to hold them at a 32-percent shooting average and forcing 25 turnovers, I'm happy with it."
Kluting shot 6-of-11 from the floor, 1-of-5 from behind the arc and collected 7-of-8 free throws for 20 points against the Spartans, a career-high for the Palmer, Alaska native, while also a recording a career- and game-high 10 rebounds.
"He can score. He's a good, big-bodied rookie who has been a real pleasant surprise for us. But with Pederson fouling out, he had to step up and play well tonight and we thought he did," Durham said of Kluting.
Following up Kluting's performance, junior LaDonavan Wilder was the only other Nanook to record double-digit points, posting 11 on the night. Wilder shot 4-of-5 from the field, 2-of-2 from the free throw line and draining his only three-point attempt in 15 minutes on the floor. Wilder and senior guard Brandon Davis tied for the game-high mark in steals with two apiece, while senior guard Nahjee Matlock posted a game-high 6 assists.
As a team, the Nanooks shot 30-of-73 (41.1%) from the field, 8-of-32 (25%) from behind the arc and 13-of-20 free throw-attempts (65%), while also tallying 45 rebounds, 16 assists and 11 steals on the night. Furthermore, Alaska gained 15 points off of turnovers, 18 points from second chances, 52 points from the bench and 24 points in the paint.
"We're still a work in progress offensively, we have some lulls throughout the game that hurt us, but we're really relying on playing good defense and hoping to pick up some momentum from that," Durham said of his offense. "We had some nice separation at the half and anytime you can get some separation like that, it definitely helps. We were making some shots, and I thought we shot a little too many three's, we need to be a little bit more selective with them, but like I said, we're still a work in progress."
Trinity Western was led by Pogos Trunyan, who recorded 27 points for the game-high. Trunyan shot 7-of-14 from the field and drained 5-of-10 three-point attempts, while also shooting 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Patrick Vanderceldon followed Trunyan's performance with a 13-point night.
As a team, the Spartans shot 32-percent (19-of-58) from the floor, 30.4-percent (8-of-32) from behind the arc and 65% (13-of-20) in free throw attempts.
After spending the majority of the first half of the season on the road, Monday's win only counts as Alaska's second official home game of the 2016-17 schedule thus far. Following the break, the Nooks will enjoy a two-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference homestead, hosting Saint Martin's on Thursday, Dec. 29 and Seattle Pacific on Saturday, Dec. 31 at the Alaska Airlines Court. Thursday's game is scheduled for a 7pm AKST tip-off, while Saturday is slated for 3pm AKST.
"Going into tonight's game, we really tried to gain some confidence here because we spent most of the first half on the road. We've got 10 league games at home coming up after the holiday, which is why, in a lot of regards, I thought tonight's game was so important. We needed to shake the rust off, get a good run in and feel good about coming back here and playing some conference games at home after the break," Durham concluded.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks page on Facebook.
