HILO, Hawaii – Junior forward Michael Kluting's career-high 33 points wasn't enough for the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team to earn their first win of the 2018-19 season on Monday night, as the Nanooks fell 86-80 to the University of Hawaii at Hilo Vulcans at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium on the UHH campus.

Alaska's overall record drops to 0-3 after opening the season on the road in Hawaii, while the Vulcans improve to 1-0 on the year.

"I thought our guys really competed hard tonight," first-year head coach Greg Sparling said on Monday. "We got down on the boards within the first five minutes of the game but our guys did a nice job adjusting and outrebounding our opponent in the end. Credit to Hawaii Hilo, they made shots down the stretch when they needed to, absolutely. We have a quick turnaround after a long flight home tomorrow but we've gotten better every game so far. This was a tough trip against quality West Region opponents but we're looking forward to continuing nonconference play next weekend."

Kluting shot 11-for-16 from the floor and 11-for-14 from the free throw line for his 33-point effort, while also registering his first double-double of the season with 16 rebounds. The Palmer, Alaska native pulled down nine offensive and seven defensive boards in his third game of the season.

Kluting's effort was followed by junior guard Aushanti Potts-Woods, who shot 9-for-19 from the field, going 3-for-5 from three-point range, while also hitting 5-of-7 shots from the free throw line for a season-best 26 points.

Senior guard Alex Baham was the only other Alaska player to tally double-digit points on Monday, knocking down 4-of-8 shots from the floor, with three of those four buckets coming from behind the three point line for 11 points.

Junior guard Jalon McCullough led his teammates with three assists, while Baham, senior forwards Joe Lendway and Daulton Lootens each tallied a steal against the Vulcans.

The Nanooks entered halftime leading their opponent 39-37 after 20 minutes, but it was UHH who came back to outscore Alaska 49-41 in the second half to seal the victory.

Alaska shot 50 percent from the floor (28-for-56), 42.9 percent from three-point range (6-for-14) and 62.1 percent (18-for-29) from the free throw line. The Nooks also tallied 14 offensive and 19 defensive rebounds, totaling 33 boards against the Vulcans. Alaska also picked up nine assists and three steals in the game, earning 23 second chance points, 22 points in the paint, 18 points off of turnovers and six points from the bench.

Additionally, the score tied on seven occasions with the lead chancing six times. Alaska's largest lead was seven points at the 3:23 mark of the first half.

The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team returns to the 49th state this week but will head to Anchorage to compete in the Seawolf Jamboree at the Alaska Airlines Center on Friday, Nov. 16 and Saturday, Nov. 17. Alaska will take on the Lake Superior State Lakers on Friday before facing Northwood University on Saturday. Tip-off both games is scheduled for 12pm AKST.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks page on Facebook.