FAIRBANKS - The Nanooks men's basketball team battled the Chaminade Silverswords on Saturday, Nov. 11 to end the GNAC/PacWest Challenge sponsored by the Mt. McKinley Bank.
It was all square at halftime as the two sides played to a 34-34 tie after 20 minutes. Chaminade outshot the Nanooks 41% to 33% and made five more field goals, but 13 made free-throws for the Nanooks kept them close in the first half. CUH opened the half with a six-point lead. That lead fluctuated throughout a lot of the first, reaching as much as seven and eventually became a tie ballgame after a
TJ Doman three-pointer in the corner with .5 seconds on the clock. After CUH threw an inbounds pass the length of the court out of bounds with no touch, the Nanooks had an inbounds pass from the baseline. The inbounds passer found Doman in the corner and the transfer got the shot off and tied it up at 34-34 heading into the locker room.
In the second, the free-throw line played the difference maker for CUH as they went 16-18 from the line while Alaska went 6-7. Alaska posted a 46% shooting half and the Swords shot 48% with two less made field goals. Out of the break, the Nanooks quickly grabbed the lead on a few separate occasions but CUH answered back each time. After the 'Nooks final lead, Chaminade grew their lead to as much as 10. Another Doman bucket with 4:30 remaining in regulation pulled the Nanooks within two. That was as close as the 'Nooks would come to the comeback; Chaminade ran their lead back to 10 before winning the game 80-72.
Tyriq Luke led the way for the Nanooks with 17 points, four rebounds, one assist, block and steal.
Abdullahi Mohamed followed with 14 on 8-9 shooting from the free-throw line while grabbing six boards and dishing two assists.
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