FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team grabbed one of the biggest wins of their season on Thursday, Feb. 20. After celebrating their seniors on senior night, the 'Nooks went on to grab a comeback win over Montana State Billings, 71-68, improving them to 11-15, 10-8 GNAC.

The Nanooks, coming off of a three game losing-streak, came out of the gates strong, pushing out to an early 12-10 lead on a Spencer Sweet three-pointer. The senior guard put up 10 of the first 14 points for the Nanooks as they then crawled out to a 19-10 lead, seven minutes into the game. Only three minutes later, the 'Nooks pushed out to their largest lead of the game at 14, making it a 28-14 game on a Shadeed Shabazz three-pointer. Alaska would keep that lead until the seven minute mark when the Yellowjackets got their offense going. MSUB gained some momentum and ended the first half on a 10-2 run, pulling the game back even going into the locker room at 37-37.

That momentum shift stayed through the beginning of the second half when the Jackets picked up the first couple buckets, moving out to a four point lead.

That lead did not last long as the Nanooks, led by Shabazz and Sweet, came roaring back to grab the lead and push it all the way to nine points. Unfortunately, the game had become a game of runs. After their explosion back out front, MSUB had another answer, grabbing the lead with 6:25 remaining and keeping it until there was 59 seconds left on the clock.

After Shabazz knocked down a three-pointer to put the 'Nooks up one, Montana then traded buckets, knocking down two free throws, reclaiming the lead 67-68 with 28 seconds to go. In what felt like a must-win game for the Nanooks, Shadeed Shabazz took over. The guard faced up the Billings defender, drove baseline and hit a short step-back jumper from the short corner, erupting the crowd in the Patty Center, and giving the Nanooks a 69-68 lead with 13 seconds to play.

Shabazz was not done. Tyler Green, the sharpshooter for MSUB, was 5-7 from the field, all coming from beyond the arc, and he was looking for one more strike but Shabazz connected and picked up his sixth steal of the game. The ball ended up in Fairbanks-native, Jalon McCullough, who had played his game of the year. McCullough was then fouled and headed to the free throw line with five seconds on the clock. With two shots coming, McCullough confidently knocked down both freebies, putting Alaska up by three.

Montana inbounded the ball, got a clean look from their star, Brendan Howard, but his shot came up short, giving the Nanooks a key win in the hunt for the GNAC Championships. With that win, the 'Nooks remain in sixth place, the final spot for playoffs, and look to grab the final games of the season on the road in the Willamette Valley against Concordia and Western Oregon.

Assistant coach Jesse Brown was asked about the upcoming games and what they'll mean to the guys, "I think we got some help tonight as Western Oregon beat Central Washington…we've got two tough road games, Concordia and Western Oregon will play their hearts off but right we've got something to play for. We've got to put in a game plan and as the guys say, we've just got to execute it…We've got to stick to the game plan and have a lot of energy."

On the night, Shabazz led the way for the 'Nooks with 22 points, six assists and six steals while grabbing three rebounds. Spencer Sweet shot 50% from the field, giving him 17 points on the night as well as eight rebounds. Alex Sommerfield and McCullough both round out the scoring with nine points apiece. This wraps up games at the Patty Center for 2019-20, but the season continues and will hopefully continue into early March at the GNAC Championships.

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