LACEY, Wash. - The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team is off to the 2022 GNAC Men's Basketball Championship game to face the #5-seeded Central Washington Wildcats. They pulled off a historic win over the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves in the semifinals, using a big second-half to win 63-58.

For the second time in program history, the Nanooks are headed to the title game of the GNAC Men's Basketball Championships. Their lone-time came at the end of the 2015-16 season.
 

It took an Alaskan showdown to make it to the Championship, and that's exactly what the Nanooks and Seawolves provided. UAA took a four-point lead into the locker room before the 'Nooks outscored Anchorage by nine in the second half to advance. Quickly, Shadeed Shabazz was on the board, opening the scoring to make it 2-0 Alaska. UAA soon responded with a three and the heavyweight matchup was on. Five minutes in, the Nanooks held a one-point lead behind six early points for Shabazz. He made it eight, extending their lead to 10-7 before Anchorage connected from deep again. Koby Huerta followed with a floater to regain the lead, his first made field goal of the night. The two teams traded blows before the Seawolves crawled back for a 19-18 lead with 4:17 remaining in the half. 

The momentum shifted towards UAA as they rolled ahead by six, their biggest of the half. Tobin Karlberg scored his 14th point for UAA with 1:17 left in the first to make it a six-point lead but following the make, both sides went cool. Shabazz ended the cold spell with a bucket with three seconds left, snapping 1:14 of scoreless basketball. Heading into the break, UAA held a four-point lead at 23-27. 

Shabazz led the way for Alaska with a dozen points on 6-10 shooting. Huerta added seven on a perfect 3-3 shooting and 1-1 from deep. 

Entering the second, the Nanooks were outshooting the Seawolves 45.5% to 38.7% but one made three-pointer to UAA's three played the difference. Less than five minutes into the second, Anchorage moved their lead to double-digits at 10. The 'Nooks did not crack. Following a UAA three with 12:42 remaining in regulation, the Nanooks switched to another gear. Abdullahi Mohamed hit a jumper for his eighth point of the game; Shabazz followed with a pair of free throws and Mohamed added his own, quickly drawing the Nanooks back within two at 40-42. Another pair of free throws from Shabazz tied the game at 42-42, tying the game for the first time since the 3:19 marker in the first half. 

Alaska was unable to break through for the lead as UAA fended off each run. Following another run to pull within one at 46-47 with 9:09 on the clock both sides hit another cold spell. Including a media timeout, the two sides put up no points for nearly two full minutes. Huerta broke that streak with a big three to put the Nanooks ahead 49-47. From that point on, the Nanooks would never trail again. A quick 49-49 tie ensued, but it was all Alaska after. Shadeed Shabazz broke the tie before Mohamed made it a three-point lead. The lead quickly grew to seven on a three-point play from Shabazz. 

The Nanooks entered the final three minutes with a seven-point lead and staved off the final runs by UAA. Two Karlberg three-pointers made it 58-61 with 14 seconds remaining, but Mohamed ended the game with a two-hand slam, making it 63-58 with eight seconds left. After the horn, Marcus Pavilion quickly transformed into the Patty Center as Nanooks' blue and gold swarmed the court before meeting the fans who traveled near the locker room entrances. 

"It's awesome. These guys, well deserved, the whole team. We're short benched, the guys have been stepping up...we held them to 37% shooting, I never thought that would happen on an Anchorage team but our guys really stepped up." said head coach Greg Sparling in his post-game press conference. 

When asked about what it will take to win the championship, Huerta spoke up about the team's confidence, "Basketball is a game of runs...we knew coming out of the second half we were going to come out and win this game. Pretty much it just comes down to confidence and staying together and we did that great tonight."



Inside the Numbers

• Shadeed Shabazz led the way for the second time this GNAC Championships. The senior posted 33 points, six rebounds and four steals on 13-22 shooting.
• Abdullahi Mohamed added 14 points on 3-5 shooting. Much of his production came from the free-throw line as the big man shot 8-9 from the line. He added seven rebounds, two steals and one assist while also drawing 10 total fouls on the night.
• Huerta added 14 as well, going 6-10 from the floor and grabbing three rebounds and dishing out two assists. 
• As a team, the Nanooks shot 48.9% from the floor, including 13-25 (52%) in the second half.
• The Nanooks won much of the game, winning the turnover battle 16-18, posting a 24-22 advantage in points in the paint, outscoring UAA on second chance buckets 11-3, and outscoring them 13-5 on fast breaks. 
• The Nanooks held the lead for 18:59 of the game and had their biggest lead of seven with 3:54 remaining in the game. 

The Matchup
The Nanooks will face the Central Washington Wildcats on Saturday, March 5 for the GNAC Title and an automatic bid to the NCAA DII West Regional. CWU was in the second semifinals game of the day and fended off a late comeback attempt by the Western Oregon Wolves. 

Alaska and Central met twice in the regular-season. Each home team took the win this season as the 'Nooks took the first meeting in Fairbanks, 97-95 in overtime. Shadeed Shabazz won the game with a driving layup with 1.2 seconds remaining on the clock. In Ellensburg, Wash., the site of the second regular-season meeting, the Wildcats took the win after coming back from an early deficit. Despite a double-double from Coleman Sparling, back in his hometown, the Wildcats nabbed a 73-76 win away from the 'Nooks. Expect this GNAC Championship game to be an instant classic.

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.