FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Four members of the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team posted double-digit figures on Thursday night but it wasn't enough overcome the Central Washington Wildcats, as the Nooks fell 74-67 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest at the Alaska Airlines Court.
The loss improves Central Washington to 14-11 overall and 9-10 in conference play, while the Nanooks drop to 12-16 overall on the season and 7-12 in GNAC contests. Additionally, Alaska is no longer mathematically in contention for the post-season.
"I thought we played pretty good defensively, the free throw line was the difference, " head coach Mick Durham said following Thursday's loss. "We had three more field goals, we just had some bad fouls and they completely dominated the board. We beat them on the board by a dozen at their place and both teams had their backs against the wall so they were determined to take care of business here and it showed tonight."
The Wildcats came out hot on Thursday, pushing Alaska on their heels by starting off Thursday's game on a seven-point run before the Nooks finally got on the board with a good three-point shot from senior guard Nahjee Matlock at the 17:25 mark of the first half. The Nooks tied the game on one occasion, making it a 54-54 game at the 9:41 mark of the second half but despite Alaska's best efforts, the Wildcats maintained their lead throughout the entire game to take the victory and knock Alaska out of the post-season run.
"We were fighting from behind for the whole game and we tied it up once but it was always something," Durham continued. "A couple transition hoops or a couple of offensive rebounds… generally, we started to get close with some free throws but then they would start to inch away from us again. We have some fight in us and we aren't going to quit but it's just frustrating to see that we're making some of those same mistakes this late in the season."
Alaska was led by senior guard Brandon Davis, who shot 5-of-12 from the floor, 1-of-3 from behind the arc and 3-of-5 from the free throw line to tally a team-high 14 points, while also chipping in a team-high three steals, two rebounds and two assists in a full 40 minutes on the court.
Matlock followed-up Davis' performance with a 13-point night of his own, shooting 4-of-13 from the floor, 3-of-8 from three-point territory and converting on each of his two free throw attempts in a full 40 minutes on the court, as well. Matlock also contributed three rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal for the Nanooks.
Both senior forward Bangaly Kaba and junior forward LaDonavan Wilder collected 10 points each on the night, with Wilder posting his first career double-double adding a team-high 11 rebounds.
Alaska shot 41.9 percent from the field (26-of-62), 23.8 percent from behind the three-point line (5-of-21) and 62.5 percent from the free throw line (10-of-16). The Nanooks posted 30 rebounds, eight assists, six steals and two blocks while also receiving 34 points in the paint, 12 points off of turnovers and 11 points from their bench.
Alaska will conclude the 2016-17 season on Saturday, Feb. 25 with a GNAC matchup against Northwest Nazarene at 7pm AKST at the Alaska Airlines Court. Saturday's game will also count as Senior Night, where the Nanooks will recognize Davis, Kaba, Matlock and Pederson.
"Senior nights are always special and you always like to end the season on a good note, especially at home," Durham concluded. "We aren't playing for anything except for those seniors. I expect this team to come out and get one for those guys."
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks page on Facebook.
