SEATTLE, Wash. - The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team put on a stifling defensive performance against Seattle Pacific in the first half before falling in the second half in the season's final game. The Falcons outscored Alaska by 10 in the second half, leading to a 60-51 loss for the 'Nooks. With the loss, the Nanooks fell to 11-15, 6-12 GNAC in their final game of the season.
After nearly two minutes of scoreless basketball, Nick Hopkins opened the scoring for both teams with two free throws. SPU would respond by getting off the board with a jumper before the Nanooks stifled the Falcons' attack, holding them scoreless for nearly 11 minutes, building an eight-point lead off six points from Mawich Kachjaani, 10-2. Over the first 12 minutes of action, the Alaska defense held the Falcons to 1-19 shooting and 0-10 from three. Once again, the Alaska defense stepped up, holding SPU scoreless for two more minutes straight. Abdullahi Mohamed pushed Alaska's lead to nine with three points of his own, 13-4. A 7-0 SPU run was answered by a deep Hopkins three-pointer keeping the lead at five, 16-11. A late 6-2 run from SPU cut the Nanooks' lead to one going into the half, 18-17.
Bryan Nguyen opened the scoring in the second half with a layup. A 5-1 run from the Falcons erased the Nanooks' lead, down 22-21 with 17:47 to go. Later in the second half, still down one, a Nick Hopkins and-one would ignite a 10-0 Alaska run capped off by a Mohamed layup, 31-22. A swift 6-0 SPU run returned the Alaska lead to just three points, 31-28. A Paul Johnson layup followed by a Demarcus Hall-Scriven jumper pushed the Alaska lead to seven with 10:50 to go in the second half. In a half of runs, the Falcons rattled off a 5-0 run in a little over a minute to cut the 'Nooks lead to just two, 35-33. Tybenn Sturm would answer for the 'Nooks with a three, extending the lead to five, 38-33. Consecutive 4-0 runs by both teams kept the Alaska lead at five, 42-37, with 6:24 remaining. A 6-0 by SPU's Shaw Anderson, capped off by a four-point play, erased the Nanooks' lead, 43-42 SPU. The lead would never return to the Nanooks as they would be outscored 17-9 over the final 5:40 of the game, falling 60-51.
Mohamed led the way in scoring for the Nanooks with 10, adding six rebounds and four assists. Nick Hopkins and Tybenn Sturm each added eight points, Hopkins contributed with 12 rebounds as well. Jordan Kanoe added a steal in 15 minutes of action in his final game with the Nanooks.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter, @AlaskaMensBasketball on Instagram, or like the Alaska Nanooks athletics page on Facebook.
