SEATTLE, Wash. - The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team is headed to the 2022 GNAC Men's Basketball Championships as the #10-seed. Alaska (8-14, 5-11) ended the regular-season with an 89-83 victory over Western Oregon and will face the #7-seeded Simon Fraser men's basketball team on Wednesday, March 2 at 3:30 p.m. AKT.

Wednesday, March 2 vs. Simon Fraser
Live Video >> https://bit.ly/3sukyFj 
Live Stats >> https://bit.ly/3pp0EK3 
Tickets >> https://bit.ly/3vrz6HP 
4:30 p.m. PST/3:30 p.m. AKT, Brougham Pavilion, Seattle, Wash.

Last Time Out
In their home and regular-season finale, the Nanooks used five double-digit performances to pull off the comeback win. After moving ahead in the first, the 'Nooks fell behind before escaping with the six-point win. The first half was a shootout as the Nanooks shot 50% from the floor while the Wolves shot 53.3% from deep. WOU started with a 4-0 lead before Alaska came back to take the lead on a Jahvonta Jones free-throw. The Nanooks pushed their lead to 10-4 before a media timeout. Their lead would grow again, this time to 19-10 before WOU pushed back to pull within five. A Willie Thomas III jumper with 6:57 remaining in the half made it a 12-point cushion for Alaska. 

After Alaska made it a 14-point game, the Wolves went on a run to make it a seven-point game at the end of the first half. 

In the second, WOU grabbed the lead three and a half minutes into the second. After Alaska fell behind the Wolves ran with the lead for nearly 12 minutes. It was not until the 4:51 marker when Shadeed Shabazz connected on a pair of free-throws to make it a 75-74 lead for the 'Nooks. Coleman Sparling followed up with a jumper, making it a five-point lead for Alaska. WOU battled back to tie it at 81-81 but Thomas III connected again for an 83-81 lead. Shabazz went on to score the final six points of the game, including a step-back three from the corner to extend the lead to 86-81, closing the game out and giving Alaska the win on senior night.

Shabazz led the way with 30 points on eight field-goals, three three-pointers, 11 free-throws while grabbing six rebounds, four steals and three assists. Coleman Sparling posted 17 points on 8-12 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Abdullahi Mohamed scored 14, Jahvonta Jones scored 13 and Willie Thomas III added 11, rounding out the solid scoring night for the Nanooks.

Quick Hitters

• The Nanooks are headed to their second-straight GNAC Championships after qualifying as the #6-seed a year ago.
• Shadeed Shabazz ended the regular-season with 19.2 points per game and 383 points through 20 games. He ends the regular-season at the top of the GNAC points per games list.
• Quin Barnard and Coleman Sparling ended the regular-season with 12.6 and 10.4 points per game, the second and third most on the team.
• Alaska has six players averaging more than eight points per game as Koby Huerta and Abdullahi Mohamed are averaging 9.9 points per game. Willie Thomas III currently sits at 8.6 points per game.
• Coleman Sparling led the 'Nooks on the glass, grabbing 8.5 rebounds a game this regular-season and a total of 188. 145 coming on the defensive end and 43 on the offensive end. His 145 and 6.6 defensive boards per game is top in the GNAC.
• Mohamed led the 'Nooks in offensive rebounds, grabbing 46.
• Shabazz is leading the Nanooks in steals with 60. He has more steals than the next three on the team combined.
• Willie Thomas III left his mark on the basketball on several occasions. He recorded 27 blocks this season, averaging a GNAC-high 1.6 blocks per game. 

All-Conference Honors
Shadeed Shabazz and Coleman Sparling were named to the GNAC Honorable Mention All-Conference team on Tuesday, March 1. Read more here.

Season Matchup
The Nanooks and Simon Fraser split their season-series this year with each home team grabbing wins. While at SFU, the Nanooks were shorthanded and forced to play with only seven. They battled, but fell to SFU 76-79. On their home court, the Nanooks played shorthanded, once again, this time with six, but pulled out a 64-59 win over SFU. It took a strong second half from Alaska, but behind 18 points from Quin Barnard, 14 from Abdullahi Mohamed and 11 and 10 rebounds from Coleman Sparling, the Nanooks were victorious. 

GNAC Format
This season's GNAC Championship will include all teams in the GNAC with rankings based on a Points Ratings System. Saint Martin's won the GNAC Regular-Season Championship and will be the #1-seed. With all 10 teams qualifying for this season's championship bracket, the games have been broken up between two locations for the first two rounds. Lacey, Wash., home of Saint Martin's will host the upper half of the bracket while Seattle Pacific's Brougham Pavilion will host the bottom half of the bracket. Once through the quarterfinals, the semifinals and championship will be held at the Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Wash. on Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5.

We've got our bracket! Late last night the GNAC Championship Bracket was officially set!

We're off to Seattle to face Simon Fraser on Wednesday, March 2 at 4:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. AKT! Tickets are now available for the GNAC Championships!

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— Alaska Men's Hoops (@NanooksMBB) February 28, 2022

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.