ANCHORAGE – The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team fell to Alaska Anchorage on New Year's Eve. UAA grabbed an 81-59 win over Alaska dropping the 'Nooks to 6-5, 1-2 GNAC.
In the first, the Nanooks outshot the Seawolves 50% to 46.4%, but UAA made one more field goal and made three more three's than the 'Nooks. In the second, the Seawolves shot the same 46.4% while the 'Nooks shot 47.6% but only connected from deep twice to UAA's four and made three less field goals than Anchorage.
Tyler Mrus got the night started with a three-pointer, making it 3-0 'Nooks with 19:23 on the clock. UAA responded with eight-straight points, taking an 8-3 lead with 17:55 left. Mrus posted another bucket, pulling Alaska within three but Anchorage posted a run, making it 16-7. Behind a
Mawich Kachjaani followed by a three-pointer from
Demarcus Hall-Scriven, the Nanooks crawled to within a bucket at 18-16. Another Scriven-Hall three made it a one-point game at 20-19 UAA. The two sides traded baskets before UAA's lead steadily grew to 10 at the 3:23 mark in the first.
Jordan Kanoe made it an eight-point game, but that was as close as Alaska would get before halftime. UAA took a 44-34 lead into the locker room.
Out of the break,
Jaycson Bereal, Jr. hit a jumper to make it 44-36, pulling the 'Nooks within eight, but the deficit grew back to a dozen on back-to-back buckets for UAA. Unfortunately, the eight-point deficit was as close as the Nanooks would come as UAA's lead never dropped out of double-digits the final 16:46 of the game.
Tyler Mrus led the 'Nooks as the only player in double-digits for Alaska. The freshman posted 14 points on 5-8 shooting, 1-2 from deep and 3-3 from the free-throw line. He added two rebounds. Bereal, Jr. added eight points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal.
The Nanooks will remain on the road for their Jan. 5 and Jan. 7 matchups at Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington. Alaska returns home on Jan. 12 as they welcome Simon Fraser to Fairbanks.
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.
