SEATTLE - The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team fell to Seattle Pacific in a tough battle in Royal Brougham Pavilion on Thursday, Jan. 27. 

The Nanooks, despite 39 points from Shadeed Shabazz, fell in overtime by two to the Falcons. After the first half, the Nanooks found themselves down by three, trailing 34-31, but they answered by winning the second half 33-30 to head to overtime tied at 64-64. Unfortunately in OT, the Nanooks managed to tie the ballgame at 72-72 before Divant'e Moffitt made the game-winner with just under two seconds remaining, grabbing the 74-72 OT win for SPU. 

In the first, Alaska jumped ahead with an early 7-4 lead following a Koby Huerta three-pointer. A Shadeed Shabazz jumper made it 9-6 Nanooks before SPU made a run to tie it at 13-13. After a quick run, the Nanooks held a small lead of 18-17 before SPU grabbed the lead right back. Another Huerta jumper followed by a pair of free throws from Shabazz pushed the Nanooks lead to 21-19 before Coleman Sparling hit a three giving the 'Nooks a six-point lead, their biggest of the night. After pushing the lead to six, SPU responded, taking the momentum into the locker room. They cut the deficit to three and one before taking a two-point lead on a Sharif Khan three and pushing it to three at the break. 

The two teams went scoreless in the final 1:43 of the first half.

Heading into the second Shabazz and Sparling went back-to-back on buckets giving Alaska the lead back. SPU regained the lead and held the lead for the next 12:05 until the 6:39 marker when Quin Barnard hit back-to-back threes for the Nanooks, tying the game up at 56-56. Shabazz joined in from deep the next time down the court, hitting a three with 6:28 remaining to give Alaska a 59-56 lead. They stretched it to six with 3:24 remaining on another Shabazz three following a 3:04 dry run with no scoring. 

Down the stretch of regulation, the Nanooks offense hit a wall as they scored two points in the final 3:24 as SPU pushed back to tie the ballgame and force overtime. This was the Nanooks third OT game on the season.

Heading into overtime tied at 64-64, Shabazz continued his scoring, grabbing the first bucket of the extra period. Moffitt and Shaw Anderson responded with back-to-back buckets to take the lead back before a pair of free throws from Shabazz knotted it at 68-68. Alaska and SPU traded lead changes before Shabazz scored with 14 seconds left in OT, tying it at 72-72. Unfortunately SPU capitalized with 1.8 seconds remaining. Moffitt hit a layup through the contact and foul from Willie Thomas III before missing the free throw. Sparling grabbed the rebound but the buzzer sounded before Alaska could get a look at a shot. 

This was the Nanooks first OT loss on the year, having been 2-0 entering tonight. 

Shadeed Shabazz led all scorers with 39 on the night. He shot 14-23 from the field, 4-11 from three and went 7-7 from the free-throw line while adding five rebounds, four steals and two assists. Coleman Sparling was the next highest scorer, posting nine on 4-10 shooting. He grabbed eight rebounds, one block and one steal. Quin Barnard posted eight with two three-pointers. Willie Thomas III scored six while blocking four shots and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. 

The Nanooks now head to Montana State Billings for a matchup with MSUB on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 5:30 p.m. AKT.

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