FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Despite overcoming a 14-point deficit in the first five minutes of the game, the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team couldn't hold off the No. 21-ranked team in the country, as the Nooks fell 86-74 to the Western Washington Vikings in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference battle at the Alaska Airlines Court on Thursday night.
Thursday's loss drops the Nanooks' overall record to 7-8 and 5-4 in conference play, while the Vikings improve to 14-3 on the season and 9-0 in GNAC games.
"We actually felt okay at half, especially with how the game started and Dreschel putting up 21 points," head coach
Mick Durham said on Thursday. "We were fighting with some foul trouble but I think they just got away from us there at the end. Around the eight minute mark they started to pull away a little bit, we just had some poor offensive possessions. We also didn't finish quite like we would've wanted to but it's hard to against these guys, they are so long. But what I really liked from tonight was that we battled and competed against a really good team. We want to continue to keep getting better and I'm proud of our guys."
The Vikings came out hot on Thursday night, dropping back-to-back-to-back three-point shots paired with two good free throws and another three-point basket to take a 14-0 lead before Alaska could even get on the board at the 16:51 mark of the first half. The Nanooks finally appeared on the scoreboard with a good three-point shot from junior guard
Davis Kimble and began crawling their way back into the game.
From the 15:09 mark, Alaska went on a 19-5 run before officially taking the lead 27-25 at the 8:34 mark. From 15:11 mark to the 9:05 point of the first half, Alaska's defense held the Vikings to only four points. After being tied 38-38 at the 1:57 point, WWU dropped three three-point shots to take a 47-40 lead heading into halftime.
Despite two tie scores and two lead changes throughout the final 20 minutes, the Vikings capitalized on Alaska's missed shots and pulled away from the Nanooks to seal their victory 86-74.
Four different Nanooks scored double-digit figures on Thursday, led by Kimble, who collected a team-best 17 points. Kimble shot 6-for-13 from the floor, 3-for-6 from behind the arc and 2-for-2 from the free throw line, while also chipping in a team-best five assists, three rebounds and one steal in 33 minutes on the court.
Sophomore forward
Michael Kluting shot 5-for-10 from the floor, 1-for-2 from three-point range and 2-for-2 from the free throw line to collect 13 points on the night. The Palmer, Alaska native also led his teammates in rebounding, tallying eight against the Vikings.
Junior guard
Tre Eisenhut and senior forward
LaDonavan Wilder were the only other Nanooks to score double-digits on Thursday, posting 12 and 11 points, respectively.
As a team, Alaska shot 44.3 percent from the floor (27-for-61), 43.5 percent from three-point range (10-for-23) and 83.3 percent from the free throw line (10-for-12). The Nooks also collected six offensive and 22 defensive boards to total 28 rebounds, 12 assists and five steals.
The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team will be back in GNAC action on Saturday, Jan. 20, as they host the Simon Fraser Clan at the Alaska Airlines Court at 2pm AKST.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks page on Facebook.
