Fairbanks, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks Men's Basketball Team will open their season playing in the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge at the Alaska Airlines Court this weekend, starting off against the Chaminade University Silverswords on Saturday, Nov. 9 before facing the Hawaii Pacific University Sharks on Sunday, Nov. 10. Tip-off for both games is is set for 2:15 P.M. AKST.
Where to Watch & Listen
If fans aren't able to make this week's games in Anchorage, all home and conference contests for the remainder of the season will be broadcast live through the Alaska Nanooks Stretch Internet Portal in the link posted above. Please be advised that when on the road, the broadcast is produced by the home school and not the Alaska Nanooks Department of Athletics.
This Year's Team
The Nanooks have four returners from last year's team, Sr., G
Jalon McCullough, Sr. G
Spencer Sweet, Jr. G
Zach Hatch, and Sr. G
Quinn Daugharty. There are seven new transfer additions to the team, Jr., G Shaheed Shabazz, Jr. G Keshauan Howard, Jr., G
Markel Banks, Jr. G
Koby Huerta, Jr. G
Deshawn Kelly, Jr. G Ousman Gomez and Jr. F
Alex Sommerfield. In addition to this, the team has three freshmen, Fr., G
Marcus Lee, Fr. F/C
Mawich Kachjaani, and Fr. F
Matthew Scarboro.
The Coaching Staff
This is head coach
Greg Sparling's second year as the head coach of the Nanook's men's basketball team. Joining him is assistant coach
Jesse Brown, who is also in his second year with the team. They both look to build upon the foundation that was set last year.
All-Time Series
The Chaminade Silverswords lead the all-time series against the Nanooks, 4-1. The first-ever meeting between the two teams resulted in a 72-99 loss for the Nanooks on Dec. 5, 2008. In their last meeting, Alaska narrowly fell 67-69 to the Silverwords in Honolulu on Nov 9, 2018.
The Hawaii Pacific Sharks lead the all-time series against the Nanooks 4-2. The Sharks won the first-ever meeting of the teams 71-82 on Dec. 3, 2008. The last meeting of the two teams resulted in a 77-92 win for the Sharks on Nov. 10, 2018, recovering from a loss to the Nanooks in their previous match in 2017.
Scouting the Opponent – Chaminade
The Silverswords ended last year's season 23-8, going 16-6 in Pacwest conference play, and finishing 3
rd. Chaminade has four returning seniors, F Eliet Donley, G Andre Arissol, G/F Tyler Cartaino, and G Kendall Small.
Scouting the Opponent – Hawaii Pacific
Hawaii Pacific finished last year's season 7-20, and finished 11
th in Pacwest Conference play. The team's second-leading scorer from last year Sr. F Ronald Blain returns, averaging 10.9 points last season.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks Men's Basketball Team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter.
