BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team got redemption against Western Washington on Saturday night, as they avenged a last-second overtime loss to the Vikings at home last month with a 78-64 victory at Whatcom Pavilion.
The win gives Alaska its second victory on its season-long four game Great Northwest Athletic Conference road trip, and improves the Nooks overall record to 16-6 and 10-4 in the GNAC. The Nanooks now move into a tie for third place with No. 21 Seattle Pacific in the GNAC standings. For Western Washington, they fall to 14-9 and 8-6 in league play.
"Great win for us," said head coach Mick Durham. "After the way we lost to Western at home, our guys were really determined to turn the tables, and we did. We played very well defensively all night and we rebounded much better this time around. We also had a great individual effort from Travante Williams tonight. So not a bad way to start our four-game road trip."
The Nanooks turned in arguably one of their best defensive efforts of the year on Saturday night. Alaska limited the top scoring team in the GNAC to just 64 points, 27 under their season average, and limited the Vikings to a 36.4 percent shooting percentage. The Nooks also held WWU's leading scorer Jeffery Parker in check, as he scored nine points after torching the Nanooks for 39 in the 100-99 overtime win in Fairbanks back on Jan. 7.
Williams spearheaded a Nanook offense that shot 55.4 percent from the field and had four players record double-digits in points on the night. The Anchorage, Alaska native tallied a game-high 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Saturday's 29-point effort is the second-highest point total in a game for Williams this season, as he also had 35 points against Western Washington earlier this year.
Senior Almir Hadzisehovic followed up with 13 points to extend his season-long double-digit scoring streak to six games. The big Serbian was once again efficient from the field, as he hit six of his 10 field goal attempts. Redshirt senior Joe Slocum and junior Brandon Davis rounded out the quartet of double-digit scorers for the Nooks, as they both recorded 10 points.
The Nanooks handed out 20-or-more assists for the fifth time this season with 21. Junior Bangaly Kaba led the way with a career-high seven helpers, while Slocum and Williams each handed out four assists.
Alaska nearly led all the way through the first 12 minutes of play, but Western Washington grabbed a one-point lead at 21-20 with 8:03 left in the first half. From that point, the Nooks would go on a 21-11 run for the remainder of the opening frame, as Williams capped off the spurt with a 3-pointer with four seconds left to give his team a 42-31 advantage going into the locker room.
The Nooks' lead hovered around 10 points during the first six minutes in the second half before the flood gates broke opened with 13:57 remaining. Alaska would go on a 17-2 run over the next seven-plus minutes to turn a 10-point lead into a game-high 23-point advantage at 67-44 with 7:09 remaining.
Alaska maintained its 20-plus point advantage until three minutes to go in the game, when Western Washington attempted a late rally. The Vikings closed the game out on an 11-2 spurt to close the gap, but it would be Nooks claiming the 14-point victory to pick up their first win in Bellingham in nine seasons.
The Nanooks continue their four-game road trip next Thursday, Feb. 11, as they take on arch rival Alaska Anchorage. The Nooks will once again be looking for redemption, as they look to avenge an overtime loss on the Alaska Airlines Court to the Seawolves back on Jan. 16. Tip-off from the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage is set for 7 p.m. AKT.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter.
