FAIRBANKS - Men's basketball, with only six players for the second-consecutive night, escaped with a big five-point win over Simon Fraser on Saturday, Feb. 5. With the win, the Nanooks move to 6-10, 3-7 GNAC.
Simon Fraser took an early lead into the break, holding off a late Nanooks run, making it 35-34 SFU after the opening 20 minutes. A big second-half from the Nanooks that included shooting 52.9% from the field and knocking down all 11 free throws led to the shorthanded Nanooks winning 64-59. The Nanooks jumped out to an early 7-0 lead behind a
Tybenn Sturm jumper,
Abdullahi Mohamed layup and
Coleman Sparling three-pointer. With the lead, the Nanooks foreshadowed a strong offensive showing. They maintained the lead for much of the opening-half until SFU tied it at 25-25 with 5:06 remaining. They'd push ahead by six at most before Alaska ended the first with a
Quin Barnard three-pointer and Sturm fastbreak bucket off of a
Koby Huerta rebound.
SFU outshot the Nanooks in the first, 48.3% to 40.6% on the court and 40% to 36.6% from deep.
Heading into the second half, Simon Fraser pushed out to a quick six-point lead on a pair of Wilfried Balata free throws, making it 46-40 SFU. Sparling connected from deep again pulling Alaska within one at 46-45 and eventually tied them up at 50-50 as he capped off an and-one bucket. SFU took the lead back with 6:25 remaining and held it for the next four minutes, fending off the Nanooks on multiple occasions. The Nanooks finally broke through with just over two minutes remaining as at the 2:05 marker,
Quin Barnard knocked down a pair of free throws making it 60-59 'Nooks. Huerta then hit a jumper with 21 seconds left following misses on both ends of the ball, extending the lead to three. With eight and six seconds remaining, Simon Fraser missed a pair of three-point opportunities, leading to Barnard icing the game with two free throws.
This win marks the second-straight win for the Nanooks, moving them to 3-1 at home in the 2021-22 season. In the second half, Alaska shot 52.9% from the floor, going 9-17 and went 11-11 from the charity stripe, making the most of their late-game opportunities.
Quin Barnard led the way, once again, posting 18 points on 3-7 3PT and a 9-11 night from the free-throw line. He added two rebounds, one steal and one assist. Mohamed added 14 points and six rebounds before fouling out late. He also added two assists while going 5-10 from the field and making all four shots in his trips to the line.
Coleman Sparling had himself another double-double night, scoring 11 points and grabbing a team-high 10 boards. Sparling added five assists, two blocks and one steal.
The men's basketball team will stay at home for a matchup with Montana State Billings on Monday, Feb. 7 at 7:00 p.m.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter, @AlaskaMensBasketball on Instagram, or like the Alaska Nanooks athletics page on Facebook.
