SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - What more is there to say? The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team has done it again. This time they're advancing to the Sweet 16 and will face the #3-seed, the Chico State Wildcats for the NCAA DII West Regional Championship.
Seven players played, four players scored, their All-American fouled out; but nothing could keep the Nanooks from this win.
Heading into the halftime break, the Nanooks were outshooting the Cougars 50% to 48.1%, but one more made three-pointer by APU made the difference. Azusa Pacific held a 32-35 advantage after the opening 20, but that did not deter the 'Nooks efforts heading into the second. Despite starting the second half a bit flat, the Nanooks answered every APU run with their own, crawling all the way back from an 11-point deficit to eventually tie it and force OT. The Nanooks used a big overtime effort from
Koby Huerta to push ahead late and win the round of 32 matchup 72-71 and keep their Cinderella run alive.
APU's sharpshooting carried over from the night before as they quickly opened up with a 0-5 lead on the Nanooks.
Koby Huerta answered by himself, hitting back-to-back shots to make it. 5-5 game only 2:15 into the first. The Cougars returned the favor with their own run, making it 5-11 one minute later. Out of a media timeout,
Abdullahi Mohamed scored his first bucket, stopping the Cougar run. Following the next media timeout at 11:24 in the first, APU's lead grew to it's largest at the time as Ken West made his 10th point making it 14-22 Azusa Pacific. Over the next five minutes, the Nanooks drew closer, eventually tying it at 25-25 on a
Shadeed Shabazz three-pointer, giving him eight points with 5:17 remaining in the first. Despite the tie, that was the closest the Nanooks would get in the first, as they were unable to hold a lead through the first 20 minutes. At the break, the Nanooks were led by Mohamed with a dozen points on 6-8 shooting.
Koby Huerta posted 10 points on 4-8 shooting, including a pair of threes.
Out of the break, the Cougars quickly jumped out by 11. Shabazz made it a one-point game on the first possession of the second, but APU answered early and often. With 13:04 remaining, the Nanooks were staring down an 11-point deficit, forcing head coach
Greg Sparling to call a timeout with 12:43 remaining in regulation. Out of the timeout, the Nanooks buckled down and scored six-consecutive points on a Huerta jumper, a
Willie Thomas III steal and layup and finally, a Shabazz jump shot. This led to an APU timeout, but the momentum swing was in full motion. Following the 30-second break, the 'Nooks pulled within two at 49-51 on another bucket from Shabazz. After playing catchup for the first 35:57 of the game, the Nanooks finally broke through on a Mohamed layup, giving him 16 on the night. The two teams battled until the 1:02 mark when Shabazz had a fast break layup to make it 63-58 Nanooks.
APU ended regulation on a 5-7 run, tying it at 65-65 before the end of regulation on a fast break three-pointer at the eight second mark. One of the turning points of the game came 17 seconds left in regulation when
Shadeed Shabazz fouled out of the game, forcing the Nanooks to head to overtime without their leading-scorer and one of their best defenders.
That did not matter for Alaska. After falling behind by three out of the gates, the Nanooks battled back and Huerta connected on the two biggest shots of the night. After trailing by three at 67-70, Huerta came off of a screen and pulled from deep, banking in a three to tie the game at 70 with 2:13 remaining in the first overtime. APU then hit one free throw and after taking a one-point lead, Huerta struck again. This time it was on the drive with a pullup jumper from the free throw line. After connecting with 1:01 on the clock, the Nanooks had a 72-71 lead and the Cougars were looking at one final possession following a Nanook miss the next time down the court.
Coleman Sparling was placed on the ball carrier and after a drive, the senior forward held strong, causing a wild off balanced loose ball and scramble. This defensive stand proved to be game, as the Nanooks stormed the court with a one-point, overtime victory over the APU Cougars.
Inside the Numbers
- Three Nanooks scored 20+ points. Shadeed Shabazz led the 'Nooks with 28 on 12-19 shooting and two three-pointers. He added seven rebounds, six steals and four assists before fouling out.
- Koby Huerta had 20 points on 8-16 shooting and three three-pointers, including the final five points for the Nanooks in OT and the game-winner with 1:01 remaining.
- Abdullahi Mohamed also ended with 20 points on 8-12 shooting while grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.
- The Nanooks only held the lead for 2:55 in the game.
- Alaska dominated the paint, outscoring APU 42-18. They also outscored APU on fast breaks 21-13.
- The Nanooks shot 58.3% from the field in the second half and held Azusa Pacific to only 33.3% from the field.
- A night after turning the ball over 19 times, the Nanooks managed to win the turnover battle, 15-14 on Saturday night. Along with Shabazz's six, the Nanooks tallied 10 steals on the night.
Postgame Interview
Next Up
The Nanooks will now face the #3 Chico State Wildcats. Chico State is coming off of a win over Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday, March 12 in the other NCAA DII West Regional Semifinal and the two teams will square off on Monday, March 14 at 7:00 p.m. PST/6:00 p.m. AKT.
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.
