Men's Basketball Heads to Seattle and Billings for GNAC Matchups

FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team is headed to Seattle, Wash. and Billings, Mont. for a pair of GNAC matchups with Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings.

Thursday, Jan. 27 at Seattle Pacific Falcons
Live Video >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQVCW5Gw4ys
Live Stats >> https://spufalcons.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Royal Brougham Pavilion, Seattle, Wash., 4:15 p.m. AKT

Saturday, Jan. 29 at Montana State Billings
Live Video >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWmL5RikDEU
Live Stats >> https://msubsports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Alterowitz Gymnasium, Billings, Mont., 5:30 p.m. AKT

Last Time Out
Despite a strong offensive outing for the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, they fell to 4-8, 1-5 GNAC with a 79-76 loss to Simon Fraser on the afternoon of Jan. 18.

It was a game of runs in the first half, leading to a four-point lead at the break for SFU. After another half of runs in the second and some strong scoring down the stretch, the Nanooks pulled themselves back into the game but fell by three.

In the first half, Shadeed Shabazz and Quin Barnard led the Nanooks in scoring with 11 and eight a piece. On the other side, Simon Fraser was led by Wilfried Balata who posted 12. Fresh off the opening-tip, SFU had themselves a 6-0 advantage. Shabazz cut that in half with a three-pointer and the Nanooks first points nearly five minutes into the game but SFU quickly responded for another three of their own. After SFU pushed ahead by six, the Nanooks responded with seven-straight that ended on a Barnard three, grabbing their first lead of the night at 10-9. The two traded buckets and leads for the next few minutes as Alaska grabbed their biggest lead of the half at four with 7:44 remaining on a Koby Huerta three-pointer. SFU answered, going ahead by seven on two separate occasions to close out the half before taking a four-point advantage into the locker room.

Coming out of the break, the Nanooks were able to pull within two on three-straight possessions but SFU answered every other time down the court. In the second half, Shabazz and Barnard led the way again, this time around, Shabazz posted 17 points in the half and Barnard posted another eight. With 12:54 remaining in regulation, SFU's lead grew out to 11 on a Josiah Mastandrea three-pointer. Alaska weathered the storm, however, and made a run to tie it at 71-71 on a pair of Shabazz free throws. They then took their first lead of the second half on a Barnard three, making it 74-73 with 2:38 left on the clock.

A foul by Alaska and two free throws gave SFU back the lead at 75-74 before they'd extend it to three on a tip-in by their big Julian Roche. Shabazz answered with what turned out to be Alaska's last bucket. SFU made it a three-point lead one last time and a last-second three-ball from Shabazz was no good.

Shabazz ended with a game-high 28 points while shooting 8-20 from the floor, 2-6 from deep and 10-11 from the free-throw line. He posted an impressive five steals and added two rebounds and one assist. Quin Barnard ended with 16 on 5-6 shooting while going a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc. Willie Thomas III was the only other Nanook in double-digits, scoring 10 points and grabbing five boards while blocking four shots. Coleman Sparling grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Quick Hitters

Shadeed Shabazz is leading the Nanooks in scoring, posting 20.8 points per game on a total of 249 points. Quin Barnard is adding a solid 13.3 points per game.
Barnard is second on the team in scoring while adding 44 made three-pointers through 12 games for an average of 3.7 made per game. Barnard is shooting 45.4% from beyond the arc (44-97).
Jahvonta Jones is leading the way on the field goal percentage, shooting 50% on 13-26 shooting. Abdullahi Mohamed follows close behind, shooting 44.1% from the field (30-68).
Coleman Sparling is the mainstay in the paint on the glass for the Nanooks. The 5th-year transfer is grabbing 7.8 rebounds per game through 12 games. He is grabbing three more per game than the next Nanook.
Sparling is leading the way on the offensive boards and defensive with 2.3 offensive and 5.5 defensive.
Willie Thomas III has nine blocks on the year, doubling the next Alaska teammate, Sparling and Mohamed with four.
Shabazz is averaging 3.0 steals per game with 36 through 12 games.
The Nanooks are fresh of their last win over SPU on Jan. 30, 2020 in Fairbanks. The time of the win, they knocked off the Falcons, snapping their 14-game winning-streak.
Alaska is 2-8 in their last 10 games against Seattle Pacific.
Against MSUB, the Nanooks are riding a two-game winning-streak. They won both in the 2019-20 season, an 86-78 win in Billings, Mont. and a 71-68 win in Fairbanks.
Alaska is 7-3 in their last 10 matchups.

Scouting the Opponents

Seattle Pacific Falcons (10-8, 3-4 GNAC, 7th)
The Seattle Pacific Falcons are riding a one-game slide. They fell to the Simon Fraser men's team 72-75 on Jan. 22. Their last win came on Jan. 20 at Western Washington. SPU defeated WWU 78-59 on the road with Harry Cavell and Shaw Anderson leading the way with 21 points.

Divant'e Moffitt is leading the way for SPU with 17.6 points per game. Shaw Anderson follows with 14.0 points per game and Harry Cavell is scoring 13.3.

Montana State Billings Yellow Jackets (7-8, 3-2, T-4th)
Montana is riding a one-game winning-streak following a win over Seattle Pacific (67-54). They also fell to Saint Martin's in a battle, losing to the Saints by a bucket, 68-70. They'll take on Anchorage before Fairbanks comes to town.

Carrington Wiggins is leading the way for MSUB with 16.8 points per game. He is followed by Damen Thacker with 13.5 points per game. Wiggins is shooting 45.6% from the floor while Thacker is shooting 88.1% from the free-throw line.

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

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