LACEY, Wash. – The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team dropped a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest on Thursday night, falling 80-59 to the Saint Martin's Saints at the Marcus Pavilion in Lacey. The Nanooks drop to 9-10 on the season and 7-6 in conference play, while the Saints improve to 16-5 overall and 9-4 in league games.

"Tonight was a tough night for us," head coach Mick Durham said on Thursday. "We ran into a very determined team tonight that's playing with a lot of confidence. Life on the road in the GNAC gets even tougher this time of year but we will learn from this as we finish out the remainder of the conference season."

Alaska was led by junior guard Davis Kimble, who shot 5-for-13 from the floor, 1-for-5 from three-point range and 3-for-5 from the free throw line to tally a team-high 14 points. Kimble also chipped in team-best six rebounds, two steals and one assist in a team-high 31 minutes on the court.

Following closely behind was junior forward Joe Lendway, who collected 12 points against the Saints. The Kansas City, Kansas native shot 4-for-8 from the field and 4-for-5 from the free throw line, while tallying two defensive rebounds and one assist.

The only other Alaska player to score double-digit figures was sophomore forward Michael Kluting, who totaled 10 points for the Nanooks. Kluting shot 3-for-5 from the field, including one three-pointer, and 3-for-4 from the free throw line, while also posting two rebounds and one assist.

As a team, the Nanooks shot 40.4 percent from the field (21-for-52), 35.0 percent from beyond the arc (7-for-20) and 71.4 percent (10-for-14) from the free throw line. Alaska also picked up five offensive and 16 defensive boards for 21 total rebounds, seven steals, six assists and two blocks.

Additionally, Alaska posted 24 points in the paint, 24 points from the bench, 19 points off of turnovers and seven points off of second chances. Conversely, SMU collected 32 points from the bench, 28 points in the paint, 15 points off of turnovers, 14 points off of second chances and four points off of a fast-break.

The Saints were led by EJ Boyce, who collected a game-high 17 points against the Nanooks. The Saints outdid the Nanooks in all three shooting categories, including field goal percentage (55.6%), three-point field goal percentage (56.5%) and free throw percentage (77.8%).

Alaska will look to bounce back in game two of their GNAC road trip, as they take on the Seattle Pacific Falcons on Saturday, Feb. 3 at the Royal Brougham Pavilion at 3pm AKST.

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