BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Junior forward Michael Kluting's 27-point performance on Thursday night unfortunately wasn't enough to help the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team past the Western Washington Vikings, as the Nooks fell 70-62 to WWU in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup at the Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham. The loss drops Alaska's overall record to 4-12 and 1-8 in conference play, while the Vikings improve to 11-8 on the season and 5-4 in league games.

Coach's Comment
"We played really well in the first half tonight because we played together as a team. Like before, we gave up too many turnovers and didn't register enough assists. We still need to work on figuring out a way to close out a basketball game but we're going to move on from tonight's game and look forward to making improvements at Simon Fraser on Saturday." – head coach Greg Sparling.

Inside the Box Score

• The Nooks shot 46.3 percent from the floor (24-for-53), 35.7 percent from outside (5-for-14) and 75 percent from the free throw line (9-for-12).
• Alaska also picked up eight offensive and 25 rebounds to total 33 boards on the night, in comparison to Western Washington's 30 (10 offensive, 20 defensive).
• The Nooks also chipped in six assists, five steals and one block.
• Alaska registered 22 points in the paint, 11 points off of turnovers, six points from the bench, five points off of second chances and two points from fast breaks.

Alaska Leaders

• Kluting led all players in scoring on Thursday night with 27 points, his second-highest scoring game of the season.
• The Palmer, Alaska shot 9-for-15 from the floor, 1-for-1 from beyond the arc and 8-for-10 from the free throw line.
• Kluting also registered his fifth double-double of the season with 12 rebounds, pulling down two offensive and 10 defensive boards against the Vikings.
• Junior guard Tymoryae Glover was the only other Alaska player to score double-digit points on Thursday, shooting 7-for-15 from the floor and 1-for-2 from three-point range for 15 points against Western Washington.
• Glover also tied for a team-high two assists, while also chipping in one block and one steal in 38 minutes on the floor.

Next Time Out
The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team continues GNAC play on the road this week, as they travel to Burnaby, British Columbia on Saturday, Jan. 26 to take on the Simon Fraser Clan at the West Gymnasium. Tip-off on Saturday is set for 6:30pm AKST.

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