FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team nearly escaped with a last-second come-from-behind victory over the Montana State Billings Yellow Jackets on Thursday, Feb. 23, before falling 60-59. With the loss, the Nanooks fell to 11-13, 6-10 GNAC before their final game of the regular-season. 

With 24 seconds remaining in the second half, Bryan Nguyen ignited a last-ditch rally for the Nanooks, hitting a deep three-pointer to tie the game, 57-57. Nguyen did not stop, stealing the ball from the Yellowjackets before hitting a breakaway layup to give Alaska its first lead of the night. The clock struck the stroke of midnight on the storybook comeback, though, as MSUB returned the favor with a deep three of its own with seconds remaining. But, before Nguyen's magic, the game was controlled by the Yellowjackets leading the way after an early 3-3 tie with 18:39 remaining in the first half. 

In the first, Alaska shot 31.3%, going 10-32 from the floor and 3-10 from deep. MSUB was 13-27 from the floor and hit four threes. Even with the shooting disadvantage, Alaska stayed in the ball game by outrebounding the Yellowjackets by eight in the first, out-rebounding MSUB 9-1 on the offensive glass, leading to a 9-4 first-half advantage in second-chance points. MSUB entered the half up six, 32-26. Out of the break, the two sides flip-flopped as Alaska posted a 46.4% second half while MSUB shot 40.7% from the floor. Down the stretch, a 5-0 Nguyen gave Alaska a momentary two-point advantage, but the Yellowjackets persevered, downing the Nanooks by just one point, 60-59. 

Bryan Nguyen kick-started his big night, opening up Alaska's scoring with a three-pointer. Alaska would not connect again over the first five minutes, going down by as many as 11 early. Demarcus Hall-Scriven got Alaska back on the board with a three-point play. Four Mawich Kachjanni points cut the MSUB lead to just 10, 20-10. After trading buckets, Alaska rattled off an 11-0 run behind seven points from Nick Hopkins and two each from Hall-Scriven and Nguyen. The 11-0 run cut the MSUB lead to just two, 25-23, with 2:17 left in the first half. A 7-0 run stretched the Yellowjacket lead back out to nine before Nguyen hit a three-pointer to end the half, cutting the lead to 32-26 MSUB. 

In the second half, a quick Hopkins free throw and Nguyen jumper cut the MSUB lead to 3, 32-29. Alaska, however, would go scoreless over the next four minutes of action, seeing the MSUB lead swell back up to 11, 40-29, with 14:58 left in the half. A Paul Johnson jumper was quickly answered by MSUB, extending the lead to the largest of the night at 13, 44-31. A 6-0 run by Alaska, capped off by back-to-back Bereal buckets, kept the Nanooks in the game. Nguyen kept Alaska in the game, answering four MSUB points with six of his own. A three-pointer by MSUB stretched the lead back to eight points. However, four quick Alaska points off a Tyler Sturm lay-in, and a Nguyen bucket kept the MSUB lead at just four, 53-49, with 3:22 remaining in the half. Hopkins and Bereal gave Alaska hope once again, cutting the lead to just one, 55-54, with 1:17 left in the game. Two free throws by MSUB extended their lead to three, before the last-second Nguyen fireworks gave Alaska its only lead of the night, 59-57, with eight seconds remaining. 

Nguyen led the 'Nooks with 23 points on 8-12 shooting. He added 3-3 shooting from the three-point line and a perfect 4-4 from the free-throw line. Hopkins joined Nguyen with 10 points on 4-6 shooting and a three while adding 11 rebounds. Bereal added nine of his own, adding six rebounds as well. 

The Nanooks close the regular-season on the road at Seattle Pacific on Saturday, Feb. 15. 

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.