FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball looks to stay hot on the road as they head to Ellensburg, Wash. for a matchup with the Central Washington Wildcats and then they're off to Nampa, Idaho for a matchup with the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks. 

Thursday, Feb. 10 at Central Washington
Live Stream >> https://bit.ly/3LnU27Z
Live Stats >> https://bit.ly/3uEimwD
Nicholson Pavilion, Ellensburg, Wash., 6:30 p.m. AKT

Saturday, Feb. 12 at Northwest Nazarene
Live Stream >> https://bit.ly/3Bi76XV
Live Stats >> https://bit.ly/3sui7RV
Johnson Sports Complex, Nampa, Idaho, 3:15 p.m. AKT

Last Time Out
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.

Quick Hitters

• The Nanooks are coming off of a two-win week that included one over Western Washington on Thursday, Feb. 3, 81-75 before the 'Nooks dropped Simon Fraser 64-59. After being named the GNAC Team of the Week this week, the Nanooks played MSUB on Monday, Feb. 7 and posted historic numbers.
• Alaska defeated the Yellow Jackets 62-36, posting the second fewest points allowed in a GNAC conference game and tied their program-record for fewest points allowed. They last allowed 36 on Dec. 2, 2006 in an 86-36 win over Golden State Baptist.
• Fifth-year senior COLEMAN SPARLING is riding three-straight double-double performances. On 2/3/22 against WWU he picked up 10 points and 15 rebounds. On 2/5/22 against Simon Fraser he had 11 points and 10 boards and on 2/7/22 he had a career-game of 20 points and 11 rebounds while going 8-12 from the field and 4-6 from deep.
• QUIN BARNARD has been lights out from beyond the arc as fellow fifth-year senior has made a team-high 64 three-pointers this season while shooting .464. Alongside his deep-threat, BARNARD is shooting .420 from the field for a season average of 14.1 points per game.
• Despite missing the previous two games, both SHADEED SHABAZZ and WILLIE THOMAS III both came back and made a difference in more than the scoring column. SHABAZZ filled the stat sheet alongside his five points, picking up six rebounds, five steals and three assists. THOMAS III scored four but was crucial on the glass, grabbing seven boards, made one block and facilitated two assists.
• Over the past week, the Nanooks have been playing with only six. Despite the troubles, a lot of Nanooks have stepped up, including ABDULLAHI MOHAMED, He's posted three-straight games in double-digits scored including a career-high 21 against Western Washington. He tallied his first-career double-double alongside that 21 with 11 rebounds. He's averaging 8.4 points and is shooting 80% from the free-throw line.
• This is the second three-game winning-streak the Nanooks have been on this season. While in non-con- ference play, Alaska posted three-straight with wins over Sonoma State (85-79), Cal State East Bay (98-89 OT) and then-#19 ranked Hawaii Hilo (76-67).
• The Alaska Nanooks and Central Wildcats have faced off once this season already. Alaska won that matchup in Fairbanks, 97-95 in overtime.
• Reigning GNAC Player, Co-Defensive and Newcomer of the Year, Shadeed Shabazz capped off the night, hitting the game-winning shot with just under two seconds remaining. He ended the night with 23, besting 29-point efforts from Xavier Smith and David Thompson of CWU.
• It's a Sparling reunion in Ellensburg. Long time CWU coach Greg Sparling returns again, but this time, alongside his son Coleman. After years apart following their 2017-18 season together, father and son return to where it all began but this time in the blue and gold.
• The Nanooks trail CWU in the all-time series, 21-45. The first matchup of these two teams came on Dec. 17, 1955 and ended in a Wildcats victory, 98-66 in Fairbanks.
• The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team was named the GNAC Team of the Week on Monday, Feb. 7.
• As for Northwest Nazarene, the Nanooks fell to NNU on their home-court earlier this season on Jan. 13, 2022. NNU escaped with a 69-77 win over the 'Nooks. 
• Alaska was selected fourth in the 2021-22 GNAC Preseason Polls. A season ago (2019-20) the Nanooks made a run to the GNAC Championships semifinals before falling to the eventual champion, Western Washington Vikings.

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.