FAIRBANKS - The Nanooks men's basketball team returns home for the first time in 2023. They'll welcome the Simon Fraser Red Leafs on Thursday, Jan. 12 and the Western Washington Vikings on Saturday, Jan. 14.

Thursday, Jan. 12
Simon Fraser | Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets
7:30 p.m. | Alaska Airlines Gymnasium | Fairbanks, Alaska

Saturday, Jan. 14
Western Washington | Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets
5:15 p.m. | Alaska Airlines Gymnasium | Fairbanks, Alaska

Military Appreciation
This Saturday's game is Military Appreciation Day. Present your current Military ID and get in free - dependents included. 

Warrior of the Month
This Thursday's game will include the January Warrior of the Month presentation. Winners will be announced and presented with their banners. Come celebrate the Nanooks and Fort Wainwright's Jan. 2023 winners! 

#NookNotes

• The Nanooks have a top-30 nationally-ranked offense and defense for field goal percentage. They are 24th in the nation and second in the GNAC with a 49.4 shooting percentage. They're 30th in the nation and first in the conference holding their opponents to 40.4% shooting. 
• They lead the GNAC in four other statistics. They currently are first in free-throw percentage, shooting 78.3% from the line. This puts them 15th in the nation. 
• Their 7.2 rebound margin is good for first in the GNAC and 23rd in the nation. 
• Alaska boasts a 64.4 scoring defense; that tops the GNAC and is 25th in the NCAA Division II.
• Defensively, they hold opponents to 31.3% from deep. This ranks first in the GNAC and 54th in the nation. 
• Jaycson Bereal, Jr., Abdullahi Mohamed and Bryan Nguyen rank in the top-10 in the conference in a number of categories. 
• Bereal is sixth in total blocks and blocks per game with 14 on the season and an average of 1.17 per game. His per game average is 115th in the NCAA Division II.
• He's currently fourth in the GNAC for defensive rebounds per game, grabbing 5.0 per game. That is 146th nationally. 
• Mohamed is seventh in offensive rebounds per game, grabbing an average of 2.00 per game. He is sixth in made free throws with 45 and fifth in attempted free throws with 63.
• Nguyen is currently ninth in the GNAC in steals per game, picking up 1.46 per game. He is eighth in assist/turnover ratio with a 1.23 ratio. Finally, he's also sixth in both total assists with 48 and assists per game, dishing 3.7 per game. His assists per game average ranks 121th in the nation. 

GNAC Standings

1. Montana State Billings (12-4, 6-0 GNAC)
2. Saint Martin's (13-2, 5-0 GNAC)
3. Seattle Pacific (10-5, 5-1 GNAC)
4. Northwest Nazarene (6-8, 3-3 GNAC)
5. Western Washington (9-6, 2-3 GNAC)
6. Alaska Anchorage (8-6, 2-3 GNAC)
7. Western Oregon (5-7, 2-3 GNAC)
8. Alaska (6-7, 1-4 GNAC)
9. Central Washington (5-10, 1-5 GNAC)
10. Simon Fraser (5-10, 0-5 GNAC)

West Region Update
Saint Martin's University checks in as the top-GNAC team in the most recent D2SIDA West Region Poll. They are currently in third, receiving 48 points. Montana State Billings follows in fifth with 37 points. Seattle Pacific is the final GNAC team in the top-10 in seventh-place with 16 points. Western Washington received six votes this last week. 

View the regional rankings here. CLICK HERE

National Rankings Update
SMU is the only GNAC team in the D2SIDA Top-25. They received 48 points and came in at #23 on Jan. 9, 2023. They are the only GNAC in the NABC Top-25 Poll. They did not crack the top-25 but received 19 votes. 

View the national poll here. CLICK HERE

Meet the Opponents
Simon Fraser Red Leafs (5-10, 0-5 GNAC)
Simon Fraser comes to Fairbanks on a four-game skid. They fell to Saint Martin's on Dec. 29, Western Oregon on Dec. 31, Seattle Pacific on Jan. 5 and Montana State Billings on Jan. 7. Their last win came on Dec. 19, 2022 in Honolulu, Hi. against Chaminade, a 74-69 victory. 

SFU is led by Georges Lefebvre who is posting 10.6 points per game while shooting 43.5% from the floor. He's also grabbing a team-high 5.4 rebounds per game. He's dished 11 assists and blocked the third-most shots with a dozen. David Penney follows with 9.8 points per game. He's shooting 40.2% from the floor, 37.2% from three and 76.3% from the free-throw line. He's the team-leader in assists with 47 and is second with 19 steals. Alongside Penney, five other SFU players are averaging more than six points per game. 

Western Washington Vikings (9-6, 2-3 GNAC)
The Vikings are on a three-game slide coming to Alaska. They fell to Saint Martin's by five on Dec. 31, Montana State Billings by four on Jan. 5 and fell to SPU 90-73 on Jan. 7. The Vikings opened up the season hot with wins in seven of their first eight games before falling in five of their last seven. 

WWU has five players averaging double-digits. D'Angelo Minnis leads the Vikings with 13.9 points per game while shooting 52.4% from the floor and 45.3% from three. He has dished the most assists with 48 this season. He is also the team-leader with 19 steals through 15 games played and started. Daniel Hornbuckle returns to his hometown and behind Minnis, is averaging the second-most minutes per game for the Vikings. He's putting up 13.7 points per game while shooting 37% from both the field and three. He's also shooting 84.2% from the free-throw line. Nic Welp is the top rebounder for the Vikings, grabbing 5.7 per game off the bench. BJ Kolly is the rim protector for WWU, blocking 26 shots this season, the next closest is Kai Johnson with 10. 

What's to Come
After this return home, the Nanooks will head to Saint Martin's and Western Oregon on Jan. 19-21. They'll return home for a two-week stretch with games against Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 28, Central Washington on Feb. 2 and Northwest Nazarene before hitting the road until Feb. 16-18 for their Senior Week. Feb. 18 will mark the final home game for Alaska against Saint Martin's. That will be senior day. 

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Instagram or Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks athletics page on Facebook.