SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Your Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team's dance continues. On Friday, March 11, the Nanooks defeated the West Region's #1-seed, the Cal State San Marcos Cougars, 70-63, behind 35 points from Shadeed Shabazz. With the win, the Nanooks advanced to the NCAA DII West Regional Semifinals and NCAA DII Championships Round of 32. They'll face Azusa Pacific on Saturday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m. PST/6:30 p.m. AKT.
 

"Why not the 'Nooks?" rang through the Alaska locker room during the pregame before the Nanooks hit the court in the NCAA West Regional Quarterfinals against the #6/#9 Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team who held the top-spot in the region. After tonight's performance, the saying rang even louder. After winning the GNAC Tournament Title as the #10-seed, the Nanooks entered their first NCAA Regional since 2005 as the #8-seed. That did not stop them. They're walking into the semifinals on a 70-63 victory over the Cougars. They used an impressive showing from the free-throw line and another 30-point performance from Shadeed Shabazz to bounce the top-seed. In the first, the Nanooks shot 56.5% from the field on 13 made field-goals while holding CSUSM to 31% shooting. They took a 37-23 lead into the locker room before the Cougars made a run in the second, winning the half 33-40. Despite the push from San Marcos, the Nanooks handled the pressure and walked away with the seven-point win 70-63.

Out of the gates, the Nanooks were in for the fight. They threw the first punch, getting on the board on a Shabazz jumper, his first of 11 from the field. After CSUSM tied it at 4-4, the Nanooks went on a 7-0 run over the next two minutes, moving ahead 11-4 on a pair of Shabazz free throws. Their lead quickly grew to eight as Koby Huertaconnected on his second three-pointer of the game with 14:05 left in the first. After fending off another push from CSUSM that made it a three-point game at the 6:01 mark, the Nanooks exploded, pushing their lead to 11 with 2:37 left in the half. Shabazz connected from deep, giving him 14 points on the night. Soon he made it 16 with a pair of free throws before forcing a turnover the next possession down. Wille Thomas III was awarded the steal and after picking up the loose ball, packed home a one-handed slam, making it a 14-point game with 1:22 left. 

Following another steal by the Nanooks, this time by Coleman Sparling, Alaska gained their biggest-lead of the night, making it a 17-point cushion on a Sparling three. The Cougars answered with a three-pointer before the break, making it 37-23 with two seconds left before going into the break. Shabazz led all scorers at the half with 16 points. He added a pair of rebounds and one steal. Coleman Sparling had seven and four boards at the break. 

Out of the break, the Cougars made a small run, pulling within eight at the 16:01 mark, using a Greg Milton III layup off of a Huerta turnover to make it a 39-31 Nanooks' lead. Alaska was able to push it back to 10 on a Shabazz jumper, but following a pair of media timeouts, San Marcos felt the momentum shift. They quickly made it a seven-point Alaska lead, pushing from down 47-35 to a tie ballgame at 53-53 with 7:27 left to play in regulation. The Nanooks turned the tie around and pushed back ahead by six, using a pair of free-throws from Abdullahi Mohamed and back-to-back buckets from Shabazz and Tybenn Sturm to make it 59-53. Cal State San Marcos made one last run, tying the game two more times, but they could never crack the tie as the 'Nooks answered each time. 

In the final two minutes, the Nanooks entered with a one-point lead. Shabazz used a free-throw to make it 62-61 before locking down on defense and picking up a huge steal with 54 seconds left and going coast-to-coast for the fastbreak bucket. After extending the lead to three, Shabazz grabbed a defensive rebound on a CSUSM miss and, again, went coast-to-coast for a bucket, making it 66-61 Nanooks. Two buckets in 19 seconds gave the 'Nooks the late insurance they were looking for. 

Shabazz would add on two more free-throws, making it 68-61 before Sparling scored the final two points for Alaska on a pair of free-throws. The Cougars added a final layup, but the Nanooks prevailed 70-63, earning the trip to the Round of 32. 

Inside the Numbers

• The Nanooks were led by 35 points from Shadeed Shabazz. He shot 11-19 FG, 2-5 FG, 11-12 FT.
• Alaska shot 90.9% from the free-throw line tonight. They went 20-22, 6-7 in the first half and 14-15 in the second half. 
• San Marcos caused 19 turnovers while Alaska forced only seven. Six of the Nanooks' turnovers came via a steal.
• The Nanooks outrebounded the Cougars 42-23. Jahvonta Jones led the game with 10 rebounds tonight; eight defensive and two offensive.
• CSUSM outscored the Nanooks on turnovers (15-18) and in the paint (26-32), but the Nanooks ran the floor, outscoring the Cougars on the fast break 17-6.
• The Nanooks biggest lead was 17 and came with 29 seconds remaining in the first half. San Marcos never held the lead, tying the game on five-separate occasions. The Nanooks led the game for 38:10 minutes.
• Both sides had a game-high run of nine points.

Postgame Interview


Who's Next
The Nanooks will face the #5-seed, the Azusa Pacific Cougars, who advanced after beating the #4-seed Point Loma on a last-second three-pointer. APU was trailing by one with two minutes to play before Kaden Anderson tied it at 60-60. After Azusa Pacific took a 63-60 lead, PLNU tied it back up with 22 seconds remaining. APU had the last laugh as Ken West hit the game-winner, a three-pointer with four seconds remaining, to give APU a 66-64 win. His three made it 66-63 before PLNU made one free-throw to end the game. 

APU is led by West on the offensive end. He is averaging 13.6 points per game while shooting 50.4% from the field, 40.3% from three and 83.5% from the free-throw line. Justin Hemsley and McKelary Robertson join West in double-digits as Hemsley is averaging 12.7 points per game while shooting .489/.400/.847 (FG/FT/3PT%) and Robertson is averaging 11.0 while shooting .460/.483/.813. On the season, the Cougars are 21-9, 15-4 PacWest. They lost to the Academy of Art in the PacWest Championship Game 70-73 on Saturday, March 5. 

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.