FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Senior guard Nahjee Matlock tallied a career personal-best 22 points to help the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team defeat the Concordia University Cavaliers 83-75 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest at the Alaska Airlines Court on Thursday night. The Nooks improve to 8-10 overall and 3-6 in conference play, while the Cavs fall to 7-9 overall and 3-6 GNAC.
"Tonight was a much-needed win. It's almost weird to be home. Thirteen of our first 17 games were on the road and six out of our eight conference games were also on the road, so it's been tough. It's nice to come home play well," head coach Mick Durham said following Thursday's game. "I thought the pace and the flow of the game was good and definitely in our favor."
Matlock shot 8-for-9 from the field, including an impressive 4-for-5 from three-point territory and drained both free throws to tally his career-best night as a Nanook. The Las Vegas, Nevada native also chipped in a game-high four assists, two steals and one rebound.
"Nahjee had a good week and I think tonight was his best game; hopefully that gives him some confidence," Durham continued. "Some of our other guys weren't on offensively but Nahjee, Zach and Donnie really carried us tonight."
Matlock led a quartet of Nooks to score double-digit figures, as senior forward Zach Pederson followed Matlock's performance with a 16-point night, shooting 7-of-14 from the floor and converting on two free throws.
Senior forward Bangaly Kaba shot 6-of-8 from the free throw line and 3-of-10 from the field to record 12 points and a team-high six rebounds, while junior forward LaDonavan Wilder collected 13 points.
As a team, Alaska shot 49.3 percent (33-of-67) from the floor, 31.6 percent from behind the arc (6-of-19) and 78.6 percent from the free throw line (11-of-14). Alaska picked up 31 rebounds against the Cavaliers, as well as 10 steals.
In a game that only saw two lead changes, Alaska collected 46 points in the paint, 25 points off of turnovers, four points off of second chances and 23 points from the bench. Alaska's largest lead was 11 points at the 8:13 mark of the second half.
Concordia was led by Christopher Edward, who posted a game-high 24 points, while Drew Martin followed Edwards' lead with 18 points himself.
The Cavaliers shot 46 percent from the floor (29-of-63), 35.7 percent from behind the three-point line (5-of-14) and 66.7 percent from the free throw line (12-of-18). Concordia out-rebounded the Nooks with 38 total, including 12 offensive rebounds.
"We needed to start our homestead off right and Saturday's a key game for us," Durham concluded. "I'll be curious to see how our guys come into Saturday after feeling pretty good about tonight's game."
The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team returns to the Alaska Airlines Court on Saturday, Jan. 21 to host the Western Oregon Wolves in another GNAC matchup. Tip-off is slated for 7pm AKST.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks page on Facebook.
