SONOMA, Calif. – The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team stuck on the road following their trip to Hawaii and are now at the Ron Logsdon Challenge, hosted by Sonoma State.
Last Time Out
The Nanooks men's basketball team is coming off of an 0-2 road trip to Hawaii at the PacWest/GNAC Challenge, hosted by Chaminade. On day one, the Nanooks fell to the Swords of Chaminade before falling in game two to Hawaii Pacific. Following the crossover,
Quin Barnard, fifth-year guard, was named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 16.5 points per game over the course of the weekend.
Stats Breakdown
The Nanooks have three in double-digit scoring after the opening-weekend. Barnard is the scoring-leader, averaging 16.5 points per game. He shot 42.3% from the field and 40.9% from deep and knocked down both free throws he attempted.
Koby Huerta and
Shadeed Shabazz are both averaging 10.0 points per game through the pair. Huerta is shooting 41.2% from the field and 28.6% from three. Shabazz is shooting 27.3% from deep to start the season.
Looking Ahead
The Nanooks will have two more non-conference games after the Ron Logsdon Challenge as they head to Anchorage for the Seawolf Thanksgiving Classic to face Hawaii Hilo and Quincy. After that, they'll head to Western Oregon and Saint Martin's to begin GNAC conference play.
Holidays Hoops
After their first two GNAC games, the Nanooks will host Portland Bible for a non-conference matchup with the Wildcats, an NAIA squad on Dec. 18 at 1:00 p.m.
All-Conference
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced their 2021-22 GNAC Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference team on Oct. 21. After being selected to finish fourth in the GNAC Preseason Team Poll, the Nanooks had two selected to the preseason team.
Returning senior and 2019-20 GNAC Player of the Year, Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year,
Shadeed Shabazz was selected to the All-Conference team. He was around every play on the court during the 2019-20 season, helping lead the Nanooks back to the postseason for the first time since the 2015-16 season. In his first year in Fairbanks, Shabazz, a 6-1 guard from Seattle, Wash., averaged 26.6 points per game with 106 assists while setting GNAC single-season records in total points (798) and steals (114). He led Division II with 3.8 steals per game. Thanks to his play, Shabazz earned D2CCA honors as a First Team All-West Region and Third Team All-American selection.
Joining Shabazz on the GNAC Preseason All-Conference Team is senior forward
Coleman Sparling. Sparling, a 6-7 forward from Ellensburg, Wash., will round out his college career back in his original conference. After joining his father, current Alaska head coach
Greg Sparling, at Central Washington in 2016-17 and 17-18, Sparling transferred to the College of Southern Idaho before spending his last season at the University of Texas at Arlington. The father/son-duo will come full circle as Coleman joins Fairbanks for the 2021-22 season. He averaged 2.0 points per game while suiting up 27 times for the Mavericks of UTA.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter, @AlaskaMensBasketball on Instagram, or like the Alaska Nanooks athletics page on Facebook.
