FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team will take on the Simon Fraser Clan and Western Washington Vikings this upcoming week after splitting down in Washington-state.
| Opponents |
Simon Fraser Clan (10-3, 3-1 GNAC) Western Washington Vikings(8-4, 3-1 GNAC) |
| Location |
Alaska Airlines Court at the Patty Center – Fairbanks, Alaska |
| Dates & Times |
Thursday, Jan. 9
Vs. Simon Fraser at 7:30 p.m. AKT
Saturday, Jan. 11
Vs. Western Washington at 2:15 p.m. AKT |
| Follow Along |
Live Video |
| Social Media |
Twitter |
Last Time Out
The Nanooks are coming off of a 1-1 road trip to the greater Seattle area. On Thursday, Jan. 2 Alaska defeated then-undefeated Saint Martin's in a battle of undefeated GNAC teams. The 'Nooks pulled out the victory, 98-88 after the Saints put together a comeback late in the second half. Alaska was led by
Shadeed Shabazz who put together another solid game, tallying 30 points and grabbing four steals.
Game two of the road trip was another undefeated battle. Seattle Pacific and Alaska entered the Saturday, Jan. 4 matchup as the only remaining undefeated teams in the GNAC. Unfortunately for the 'Nooks the Falcons held the edge and grabbed the 68-86 victory.
Alex Sommerfield led the Nanooks in the scoring column, going for 17 points on 6-11 shooting. The 6'7" junior-transfer also grabbed five rebounds in the loss.
Stat Leaders
Shadeed Shabazz has played a pivotal role in the Nanooks offensive success. The transfer put up 18.6 points per game his freshman year at Cochise College in Arizona before transferring to Iowa Western. As a part of the Reivers, Shabazz averaged 10.0 ppg through 31 games while shooting 48.1% from the field.
Now at Alaska, Shabazz has averaged 21.2 ppg through the first 12 games of the season, good for second in the GNAC and he has scored under 15 points in only two of the 12 games. On Dec. 7, 2019, Shabazz put up a GNAC season-high, 43 points in the Nanooks victory over the Concordia Cavaliers. The next high on the season was scored by teammate and fellow Seattle-native,
Markel Banks.
Scouting the Opponents
Simon Fraser Clan 10-3, 3-1 GNAC
Simon Fraser may be one of the most improved GNAC teams from last year to this year. This year, the Clan find themselves 10-3 overall with a 3-1 GNAC record with wins over Western Washington, Montana State Billings and Central Washington. Their lone loss came on a last second three-pointer to Northwest Nazarene.
SFU boasts five players averaging over 10 points per game with their top two scorers being Jasdeep Singh, who through 13 games, has averaged 17.7 points per game. Just behind Singh is Wilfried Balata who is averaging 15.8 points through 13 games as well. Julian Roche, the Clan's 6'11" big man, is enjoying a 52.0% from the field, the best amongst SFU starters and second only to David Penney who I hitting 64.3% of his field goals.
Western Washington Vikings 8-4, 3-1 GNAC
Alongside SFU, the Vikings of Western Washington have made the biggest jumps from 2018-19 to 2019-20. A year after WWU did not make the GNAC playoffs for the first time since the GNAC introduced the conference tournament in 2009, the Vikings were selected as the favorite to win the GNAC in the preseason.
WWU has won four games in a row, including three GNAC matchups after a buzzer-beater dropped them at Simon Fraser to open GNAC play. The Vikings knocked off the Montana State Billing Yellow Jackets, Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene, improving to 3-1 in GNAC play. The Vikings are led by Trevor Jasinsky and Jalen Green in the scoring column. Jasinsky is the leading-scorer with 16.7 points per game while Green follows, averaging 13.3 points per game off of 53.0% shooting from the field.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter.
