FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team fell to 6-8, 1-5 GNAC with a 78-69 loss to Simon Fraser on Thursday, Jan. 12. 

Alaska jumped out to a halftime lead of 38-34 but Simon Fraser used a big second half to outscore the Nanooks 44-31 and run away with the nine-point win in Fairbanks. The two sides traded baskets to open the night; a jumper from Tyler Mrus made it 5-4 Nanooks with 17:21 remaining before the Red Leafs made an early run for a lead. Their lead grew to seven at 12-5 before the 'Nooks clawed their way back into it at 19-18 with 10:27 remaining. They used another Mrus bucket to pull within one. One was as close as they could get to SFU until the 5:00 mark when Jaycson Bereal, Jr. hit a jumper to tie it at 26-26 and followed it up with a thunderous dunk to make it 28-26 Nanooks.

Their lead grew to four heading into halftime. 

Out of the break, Abdullahi Mohamed quickly made it a six-point game on a layup. The Nanooks maintained the lead through the opening four minutes until David Penney connected from deep for SFU to give them a one-point lead. In the next five minutes, their lead quickly grew to a dozen at 56-44. After another small run by the Nanooks, a Bereal, Jr. dunk capped the run, this time to pull Alaska within five at 64-59 with 5:33 on the clock. Bereal found his way to the basket again a few more times down the court, this time to make it a three-point deficit, but that was as close as the 'Nooks could come down the stretch. SFU ran away with late possessions, winning by nine. 

Jaycson Bereal, Jr. and Abdullahi Mohamed ended with 21 each, the only Nanooks in double-digits. Bereal led the way with seven rebounds and Mohamed followed with six. The Nanooks are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 14 against Western Washington. c

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.