FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – SATURDAY, March 5, 2016 – COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT: Chris Caskey (cdcaskey@alaska.edu)
ALASKA NANOOKS MEN'S BASKETBALL || @NanooksMBB
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No. 2 @NanooksMBB Drops Heavyweight Slugfest to No. 1 Western Oregon, 78-71, in GNAC Finals
LACEY, Wash. -- The No. 2-seeded Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team attempted a late rally to erase a seven-point deficit to No. 1-seeded Western Oregon during the last two and half minutes of play, but the Wolves seemingly had an answer to every late rally the Nanooks put together, as they handed Alaska a 78-71 defeat in the 2016 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship game.
The loss brings a halt to the Nanooks' season-best six game winning streak. The loss drops Alaska to 22-8 on the year, and they will now wait and see if they'll receive an at-large bid in the NCAA West Regional. The selection show is scheduled for Sunday at 6:30 p.m. AKT on NCAA.com.
Regardless if Saturday's GNAC Championship game was the final contest of the year or not, the Nanooks still had their most successful season in 11 years. The 22 wins is the second-most in program history, as they are still one game short of the program record 23 wins set by the 2003-04 squad. The Nanooks also collected a program-best 15 GNAC wins this season, as they went 15-5 in league play to finish second in the regular season standings to Western Oregon, and they advanced to the GNAC Championship finale for the first time in program history.
"Western Oregon demonstrated why they were the top team in the GNAC during the final six or seven minutes of play tonight," said head coach Mick Durham. "They hit big shots down the stretch. The game was going down to the wire, and they made big plays, hit big shots and pulled down big rebounds. Our biggest problem was rebounding. That was the difference in the game. We had a tough time grabbing their first miss, and that had us playing defense for more than 30 seconds. We did a great job, but the boards got away from us and that cost us."
Alaska held a 3-point lead going into the half, but Western Oregon took just its second lead of the game, 38-37, at the 16:43 mark of the second half, when GNAC Player of the Year Andy Avgi hit a layup after a Tanner Omlid steal.
Avgi's bucket would begin the heavyweight bout between the two top teams in the conference, as the next 12-plus minutes of play featured 13 lead changes and four ties. Junior Bangaly Kaba knotted the game up at 62-62 with 4:39 to play, but that would be the final time the two teams drew even, as WOU went on a 7-0 run that was capped off by with corner 3-point field goals from Alex Roth, who hit four clutch trifectas in the second half, to take a commanding 69-62 lead with less than three minutes to play.
Alaska did not go down without a fight, as redshirt senior Joe Slocum brought the Nooks within four at 69-65, with a 3-pointer at 2:10 mark. Western Oregon's Devon Alexander, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, matched Slocum's trifecta on the next possession to go back up seven. Slocum again pulled the Nanooks with four with his second-straight 3-pointer, but Alexander once again match Slocum's efforts by drilling his fourth three of the night on the next possession to put WOU back up seven.
The Nooks attempted to extend the game at the free throw line, but Western Oregon would go 3-of-4 at the free throw line in the final 21 seconds of play to seal its first-ever GNAC Tournament Championship, and claim the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA West Regional, with a 78-71 victory.
All-GNAC first team selection, senior Travante Williams, led the team in scoring with his second-straight 23-point performance. Tonight's 23-point effort was the Anchorage, Alaska native's 13th game this season with 20-or-more points, and also extended his double-digit scoring streak to 20-straight games.
Kaba was one point shy of his career-best in points, as he registered 19. Kaba went 8-of-9 from the field, and also pulled down a team-high six rebounds. Slocum followed Kaba with 13 points, and junior Brandon Davis rounded out the quartet of double-digit scorers for the Nooks with 10.
Alaska shot over 50 percent for the fourth-straight game, with a 53.7 percent success rate, but was uncharacteristically outrebounded by Western Oregon, 36-20, which gave the Wolves a 13-0 edge in second chance points.
Western Oregon was led by Alexander's 16-point, 10 rebound effort, while Jordan Wiley matched the guard's efforts with 16 points of his own. The Wolves hit an astounding 12 3-point field goals in the Championship game, as Alexander and Roth each had four.
Check back with AlaskaNanooks.com or follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter to find out the Nooks fate on Selection Sunday. The NCAA Selection show is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. AKT on Sunday night.
