Men's Basketball | 2/25/2020 5:17:00 PM
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team ends the 2019-20 regular season this week in the Willamette Valley. They will look for a couple key wins to secure their spot in the GNAC Championships in two weeks.
Last Time Out
The Nanooks are coming off of senior week last week in which they fell to their in-state rivals, UAA before knocking-off Montana State Billings on senior night. In game one, the Nanooks were led by
Shadeed Shabazz, who put up 25 points with 12 assists, six rebounds and five steals, but the double-double and efforts surrounding him were not enough to knock off the Seawolves.
Markel Banks added 16 points and
Koby Huerta put up 13 in the support role.
Keshaun Howard scored a career-high 10 points in the loss for Alaska.
In game two, on Thursday, Feb. 20, the Nanooks had to battle back late, but pulled off the comeback victory over the Yellowjackets of Montana State Billings. At the half, the two teams battled to a standstill and 37-37 tie, but a strong final two and a half minutes saw the 'Nooks comeback from a six-point lead to remain in the hunt for the GNAC playoffs.
GNAC Standings
| 1 |
Seattle Pacific |
20-6, 16-2 GNAC |
| 2 |
Western Washington |
17-9, 12-6 GNAC |
| 3 |
Northwest Nazarene |
15-8, 12-6 GNAC |
| 4 |
Western Oregon |
17-7, 11-7 GNAC |
| 5 |
Alaska Anchorage |
18-11, 11-7 GNAC |
| 6 |
Alaska |
11-15, 10-8 GNAC |
| 7 |
Central Washington |
16-10, 9-9 GNAC |
| 8 |
Simon Fraser |
15-12, 8-10 GNAC |
| 9 |
Montana State Billings |
10-16, 5-13 GNAC |
| 10 |
Saint Martin's |
5-22, 3-15 GNAC |
| 11 |
Concordia |
3-23, 2-16 GNAC |
The Nanooks currently hold a one game lead over the Central Washington Wildcats and are in need of just one win to clinch a ride to the postseason. CWU and Alaska split in the regular season, however, with the 'Nooks victory over Seattle Pacific earlier in the season, that similar opponent tiebreaker will give the Nanooks the edge.
Seattle Pacific, Western Washington and Northwest Nazarene have all clinched berths to the GNAC Championships and SPU has clinched the 2019-20 Regular Season Championship.
Scouting the Opponent
Concordia Cavaliers
The Cavaliers have been playing some inspired basketball as of late. On Thursday, Feb. 20 the Cavs fell to Northwest Nazarene, 82-98 in double-overtime. The spirited comeback fell short after the Nighthawks jumped out to a 16-point lead at halftime. CU outscored the Nighthawks 54-39 in the second half and tied things to force overtime, but after the first OT, NNU proved to be too much, running away in overtime number two.
After the tough loss at NNU, the Cavaliers went to Ellensburg, Wash. to face the Central Washington Wildcats. After falling behind at the break, 33-37, the Cavs made another spirited comeback attempt against a quality GNAC-opponent, outscoring the Wildcats in the second half, but coming up just short, losing to CWU, 66-69.
The leading scorer for Concordia is Hunter Sweet. He has started 22 of 26 games for the Cavs while putting up 12.3 points per game on 46.7% shooting. He is also shooting 40.3% from beyond the arc, proving he is a scoring threat from all over the court. Just behind him is Dakota Ayala, averaging 12.2 points per game while also grabbing a team-high 5.5 rebounds per game. On the defensive side of the ball, Xavier Smith leads the way for CU, grabbing 31 steals on the season.
Western Oregon Wolves
The Wolves have been one of the hottest teams in the GNAC as of last, winning four of their last five games. On Thursday, Feb. 20, the Wolves pulled away from Central Washington to grab a 71-61 win in Ellensburg. After falling behind by nine at the break, WOU nearly doubled the Wildcats in the second half to pick up the 10-point win.
In game two, Western Oregon faced-off with Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho. The game was back-and-forth for almost the entire 40 minutes. So much that 40 minutes was not enough. After NNU tied things up with 34 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws, they eventually grabbed the win in the extra five minutes, outscoring the Wolves 8-10.
On the offensive end, the Wolves are led by Dalven Brushier, who after starting all 24 games, is averaging 17.8 points per game. He has done so behind 49.3% shooting from the field and 43.8% shooting from three-point range. From the free-throw line, Brushier is an 86.3% shooter, one of the top in the GNAC.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks athletic page on Facebook.
