FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team put up a historic showing in the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium at the Patty Center on Monday, Feb. 7. With MSUB in town, the Nanooks tied their program-record for fewest point allowed and posted the second-fewest points allowed in a GNAC conference game with a 62-36 victory over the Yellow Jackets.

This win, Alaska's third-straight, moved the 'Nooks to 7-10, 4-7 GNAC. The Nanooks used a 20-point lead in the first-half to run away with the victory. Coleman Sparling led the way with a dozen points at the break and seven rebounds, before adding eight second-half points to his game-high totals. Out of the break, the 'Nooks continued their hot-night all around, shutting out MSUB from deep in the second-half as the Yellow Jackets went 0-14 beyond the arc. Alaska's biggest lead was pushed to 27 as they waltzed their way to the 26-point win. 

To start the game, Tybenn Sturm knocked down a three, starting the Nanooks run. They'd push ahead with the first eight points of the game before MSUB got on the board. That did not stop the 'Nooks as Coleman Sparling hit his first three-pointer of the night, extending the lead to 13-2. Sturm would connect on another shot, making it a 13-point lead at 15-2. The lead continued to build as it slowly became 26-6 on Shadeed Shabazz's first-bucket of the night. Five minutes later, with just under two minutes left to play in the first, the Nanooks crawled out to their largest first-half lead, 23, on an Abdullahi Mohamed bucket, giving him eight in the first half. That lead turned into a 38-18 halftime advantage. Out of the break, MSUB quickly made it a 16-point lead, capitalizing on back-to-back turnovers but Shabazz found nothing but net from the corner for three to grow it back to 19 and the offense exploded from there. 

Alaska quickly responded, going up by as many as 25 and with 13:15 on the clock, Mohamed joined Sparling in double-digits, picking up his 10th point and making it 51-26 Nanooks. The two teams traded buckets before Koby Huerta knocked down a pair of free throws, growing their lead to 26 with 3:00 minutes remaining. Sparling would cap off his stellar night with one-last three, giving the 'Nooks their biggest lead of the night at 27 with 1:33 left in the game. MSUB would knock down one free throw to make it a 62-36 win for Alaska, giving them a third-straight win. 

Sparling was the go-to for the 'Nooks as he posted 20 points on 8-12 shooting and 4-6 from beyond the arc. He added 11 rebounds, 10 defensive and one offensive. He also added two assists, two steals and one block. Abdullahi Mohamed joined Sparling in double-digits with 14 points, shooting 6-11 from the floor and grabbing three rebounds. Quin Barnard and Shadeed Shabazz helped facilitate in other ways as Barnard ended the night with six points on two three-pointers and picked up six assists, three rebounds and one steal. Shabazz posted five points but added six rebounds, five steals and three assists. 

The Nanooks take to the road and will face Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, Feb. 10 and Saturday, Feb. 12.

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