BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team fell to the Western Washington Vikings on Thursday, Feb. 8, 87-80. The loss dropped the 'Nooks to 9-12, 4-9 GNAC on the season. 

Alaska trailed after the first 54-42. They made a run in the second outsourcing WWU 38-33. The Vikings' lead would be too much, securing their seven-point win. Abdullahi Mohamed got the 'Nooks on the board with a layup 0:47 into the game. Following an answer by WWU, Bryan Nguyen answered with a layup of his own. A Nick Hopkins jumper and Tyler Mrus layup would push the 'Nooks lead to four, 8-4, with 17:15 remaining in the half. Layups by Hopkins and Mohamed extended Alaska's lead to six, 12-6. WWU fought back to tie the game at 19 all with 10:24 left in the first half. The teams traded buckets, and neither team could grab and extend the lead, tied at 29. WWU responded with a 6-0 run. Mohamed ended the run by going one of two from the free-throw line. Back-to-back threes from the Viking and former Nanook Daniel Hornbuckle pushed the Viking lead to 10, 46-36 with 3:22 left in the first half. The 'Nooks cut the lead to single digits multiple times before the end of the first half. However, a late run put WWU up 12 at the half, 54-42. 

The Vikings pushed the lead as high as 17 early in the second half. At the 11:24 mark in the second half, the Vikings went back up 15. Paul Johnson hit a three, cutting the lead to 12. Three straight by Mohamed continued to chip away the Vikings' lead. An offensive foul by WWU, followed by a Tyler Mrus layup, cut the lead to just seven with 9:23 left in the half. A 5-0 WWU run extended the lead back to 12. A 10-0 Nanooks run, including five from Nguyen, cut the lead to just two with 6:04 remaining. That would be the closest Alaska would come to overcoming the deficit, falling by seven, 87-80. 

Five Nanooks scored in double figures, with Abdullahi Mohamed and Nick Hopkins leading the way with 18 each. Paul Johnson added 14, and Bryan Nguyen and Jaycson Bereal Jr added 10. Hopkins added 11 rebounds for a double-double, as well as three assists and two steals, shooting 7-11 from the field. Johnson shot an efficient 5-7, including 4-6 from three. 

The Nanooks remain on the road facing off against Simon Fraser on Feb. 11. 

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.