SEASIDE, Calif. – The Nanooks men's basketball team fell to Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday, Nov. 18. The 80-77 loss dropped the Nanooks to 1-2, 0-0 GNAC on the season and CSUMB improved to 2-1, 0-0 CCAA.
Alaska trailed by six at the half, 38-32, before outscoring the Otter 45-42 in the second. Unfortunately, the strong second half was not enough to complete the comeback.
Abdullahi Mohamed got the Nanooks on the board in the opening minute and
Tyler Mrus followed up with a fastbreak bucket, making it 4-3. The two teams traded leads until CSUMB grabbed a 9-8 lead with 15:00 to play. They quickly extended their lead to seven until Alaska pulled within three at the 8:33 mark on a
Jaycson Bereal, Jr. bucket following a Mrus steal.
The Otters extended their lead to five before
Bryan Nguyen connected from deep making it a two-point game before Mrus tied it up at 23-23 on a jumper with 7:24 left in the first half. He was fouled on the play, hit the free throw, and gave the Nanooks a one-point lead at 24-23. The lead was short lived as the Otters grabbed it back and led for the final six minutes of the half and took a 38-32 lead into the break. To start the second, they pushed their lead to nine off the bat. After that, the Nanooks chipped away, pulling within one at 41-40 on a Mohamed fastbreak.
Monterey put up eight-straight, making it 49-40 before a 10-0 run made it 50-49 Nanooks, ending on a pair of free throws from Mohamed with 10:18 on the clock. After the lead, the game of runs was on. The two shared ties at 58-58, 60-60 and 65-65 before the final four minutes. Down the stretch,
Demarcus Hall-Scriven connected on back-to-back three's, making it 71-69 Alaska before CSUMB tied it up with 3:43 left in regulation. The Otters took the lead back before
Paul Johnson gave the 'Nooks a one-point lead after making it a one-point lead with a pair of free-throws. Unfortunately, with 12 seconds left, Levi Frankland took the lead back for CSUMB, ultimately winning the game for the Otters. They added two free throws with six seconds left before Hall-Scriven missed the potential game-tying three-pointer.
Mohamed led the way for Alaska, posting 21 points on 7-10 shooting, 6-8 from the free-throw line and 1-1 from deep. He added four rebounds, two assists and one block. Bereal, Jr. added 16 and nine rebounds and Hall-Scriven ended with a dozen points on 5-9 shooting.
Alaska plays Cal State East Bay tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Instagram or Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks athletics page on Facebook.
