FAIRBANKS – The Nanooks men's basketball team won their GNAC opener on Thursday, Dec. 1. They knocked off the Seattle Pacific Falcons 64-56 to move to 4-3, 1-0 GNAC. 
 
Behind a 14-point performance from Abdullahi Mohamed, a near double-double for Tyler Mrus and eight Nanooks scoring six or more, the Nanooks used a strong shooting night to grab the eight-point win over the Falcons. In the first, the two teams traded leads until the Nanooks jumped out to a six-point lead at 10-4 behind a Mohamed three. SPU got within three before another Mohamed three made it 15-9 with 11:54 left in the first half. Their lead continued to grow; Mohamed connected on a jumper inside the paint, making it 24-14 with 6:44 remaining in the half. SPU rallied, scoring seven-straight to pull within three at 24-21, but a Tyler Mrus jumper and Paul Johnson three extended the lead back to eight. 
 
The 'Nooks maintained a two-possession lead until the final shot of the half when Shaw Anderson connected from three with four seconds left in the half, pulling SPU within three at 33-30 heading into the half. 
 
Opening the second half, the Nanooks maintained the lead the entire time. In the opening two and a half minutes, the Falcons pulled within one on two separate occasions, but the 'Nooks had an answer each time. Bryan Nguyen made it a three-point game after the second one-point lead and Alaska never looked back. The lead quickly turned to seven and eventually hit nine at the 12:06 mark on a Mrus jumper. A minute and a half later, Mrus connected on back-to-back shots, extending the lead to 13 at 51-38. 
 
With 3:05 remaining in regulation, SPU pulled within single-digits on a Shaw free throw before Maui Sze made it a six-point lead with a deep three at the 2:19 mark. SPU used another Maui make with 34 seconds remaining to crawl within four but Isaac Garcia knocked down both free throws with 31 seconds on the clock, growing the lead to six. Out of a Nanooks timeout, the Nanooks benefited off an Anderson Shaw turnover and Bryan Nguyen connected on the final two free throws, making it 64-56 with 21 seconds remaining, and giving the 'Nooks their first GNAC win. 
 
Mohamed led the way with 14 points on 5-9 shooting and 2-2 from deep. He added four assists and two rebounds. Mrus ended with 12 points on 6-12 shooting while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing one assist and blocking a shot. Paul Johnson posted eight points on two three balls and a bucket with two rebounds and assist. Five Nanooks checked in with six points; Bereal, Jr., Garcia, Hopkins, Kanoe and Nguyen. 
 
As a team, the Nanooks shot 47.3% from the floor, 40% from three and 80% from the free-throw line. 
 
The Nanooks welcome Montana State Billings for a Saturday matchup on Saturday, Dec. 3. The game is scheduled for a 5:15 p.m. AKT start.
 
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.