FAIRBANKS - The Nanooks men's basketball team stays at home for another two-game week. They welcome Northwest Nazarene to town on Thursday, Jan. 11 before matching up with the Central Washington Wildcats on Saturday, Jan. 13. 

Thursday, Jan. 11
vs. Northwest Nazarene | 7:00 p.m.
Alaska Airlines Gymnasium | Fairbanks

Saturday, Jan. 13
vs. Central Washington | 3:00 p.m.
Alaska Airlines Gymnasium | Fairbanks

Watch Here | Live Stats | Tickets

Military Appreciation
Tomorrow's matchup with NNU is Military Appreciation Night. All with an active Military ID will get themselves and their plus-one in for free with. Present at the ticket office to receive your free GA ticket! 

Food Drive
Saturday's matchup with Central Washington will feature a food drive in support of the Fairbanks Community Food Bank. Fans who bring two or more items will receive free admission. 

Last Time Out
The Nanooks took Alaska Anchorage to overtime a week ago on Saturday, Jan. 6. The first half was anything but offensive as both sides struggled offensively. UAA posted a 19.35% shooting clip, going 6-31 from the floor, 2-15 from three and 2-7 from the free-throw line. Alaska outshot them 7-24 (29.17%) from the floor, 2-9 from three and 7-9 from the free-throw line. They took a 23-16 lead into the halftime locker room. The second half saw both sides improve offensively. Despite outscoring UAA by nine at the free-throw line, Alaska struggled from deep, ending the night 3-18 from three while Alaska Anchorage hit 10 threes.

In the second, Alaska's Nick Hopkins made it a six-point lead on an offensive rebound and put-back. Their lead would stay until the 17:32 mark when Tyson Gilbert connected on a transition three, making it 31-29 UAA. The two sides traded runs and leads before Alaska got their lead up to four with 9:06 left in the second. Bryan Nguyen connected on the trey to make it 44-40 Nanooks. The trading of runs began again and down the stretch, Alaska used a layup from Trey Anderson to tie it up at 52-52, forcing the overtime period. In the overtime period, UAA struck first, hitting a three to take a 55-52 lead. Abdullahi Mohamed got a bucket back, bringing it to a one-point game, but UAA had an answer to each of Alaska's buckets in the OT period. After making it a three-point game, Demarcus Hall-Scriven had a look in the corner but missed. Anchorage went down the court and extended their lead to six with less than a minute left - they went on to win 64-58.

Jaycson Bereal, Jr. and Trey Anderson led the way offensively for Alaska. Bereal had 14 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. He added two blocks and a steal while going 2-4 from the floor, 2-3 from three and 8-11 from the free-throw line. Anderson was 4-7 from the floor and had 10 points, three rebounds, one block and steal.

#NookNotes

• Abdullahi Mohamed is leading the way for the Nanooks both offensively and on the glass. The senior forward is posting 12.5 points per game while grabbing 6.4 rebounds per game. 
• TJ Doman leads the way for the Nanooks in field goal percentage, shooting 57.1% from the floor in his first 11 games with Alaska. Tyriq Luke follows with an impressive 48.1% clip - he's also the second leading scorer on the team with 7.8 points per game. 
• Bryan Nguyen and Trey Anderson lead the way defensively for the Nanooks as Nguyen has nine steals and Anderson follows with eight. TJ Doman is third with six.
• The 'Nooks are outrebounding their opponents 36.7-32.5, good for a +4.3 rebounding margin. They are also making nearly four more free throws a game than their opponents, 13.0-9.6.
• They are outblocking their opponents 3.5-2.8.
• The Nanooks have fallen in both matchups with NNU since their 2022 GNAC Championships win over the Nighthawks in Seattle, Wash. NNU took both games last year, 72-62 in Nampa, Idaho on Jan. 5, 2023 and 69-54 on Feb. 4, 2023 in Fairbanks. 
• Alaska is 3-2 against Central Washington in their last five matchups dating back to Jan. 15, 2022 in Fairbanks. All three wins have come at home or at a neutral site. They are 2-0 at home, 1-0 neural and 0-2 at CWU in their last five meetings. Their last home win came last season on Feb. 2, 2023 in a 69-66 win. Their neutral site win was in Lacey, Wash. at the 2022 GNAC Basketball Championship game and was a 72-57 win to send the Nanooks to the 2022 NCAA West Regional. 

GNAC Standings

1. Montana State Billings (10-4, 4-0 GNAC)
2. Saint Martin's (13-1, 3-1 GNAC)
3. Northwest Nazarene (7-5, 3-1 GNAC)
4. Western Washington (10-4, 2-1 GNAC)
5. Central Washington (9-4, 2-2 GNAC)
6. Alaska Anchorage (11-3, 1-2 GNAC)
7. Alaska (3-8, 1-2 GNAC)
8. Seattle Pacific (8-9, 1-3 GNAC)
9. Western Oregon (4-8, 1-3 GNAC)
10. Simon Fraser (2-12, 0-3 GNAC)

What's to Come
The Nanooks will hit the road following their two games this week. Next Thursday they'll be in international waters as they take on the Red Leafs of Simon Fraser in Burnaby, B.C. They then head to Bellingham, Wash. for a matchup with the Western Washington Vikings on Jan. 20. Their next home games will come on Jan. 25-27 when they welcome the Saint Martin's Saints and Western Oregon Wolves. The Jan. 25 game against SMU will be Diversity Night and Jan. 27 against WOU will be Elementary Night! More details will come.

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