BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The Nanooks men's basketball team lost to the Western Washington Vikings on Saturday, Jan. 20. A 62-point second half for WWU gave the Vikings a 119-92 win over the 'Nooks. The Nanooks are now 3-12, 1-6 GNAC on the season. 

The first half was highlighted by the offenses of both sides. The Nanooks shot 44.74% from the floor, posting a 17-38 half with 5-8 three's and a 13-14 performance from the free-throw line while WWU went 18-37 (48.65%) from the field on 7-15 shooting from deep and 14-17 from the free-throw line. Western ran out to an early 6-2 lead before a Tyriq Luke three cut the deficit to one. Both sides traded buckets before Abdullahi Mohamed gave the Nanooks their first lead of the night at 9-8. He would go for an and-one 24 seconds later and Luke would follow to give the Nanooks a five-point lead in the opening minutes. The offense would not slow down on either side as Alaska grew their lead to six at the 12:57 mark on a Mohamed three. Western would chip away at the first-half lead and pull within three of Alaska but a Mohamed jumper, Paul Johnson three and Jaycson Bereal, Jr. layup stretched the lead back out to 10 for the Nanooks at 34-24.

All of this will just under 10 minutes left in the first half. 

Two minutes later, the Vikings used back-to-back scoring possessions to pull within four. They'd get as close as two at 35-33 but the Nanooks managed to hold off their push. A pair of Bereal free throws at 6:21 stretched it back to a seven-point lead before WWU used the next two minutes as their run for the lead. A 12-0 run for the Vikings quickly flipped the first half to a Vikings lead at 47-42 with 4:01 left on the clock. Their lead would stick until the Nanooks retook the lead at 52-51 on a Bereal fastbreak layup but WWU quickly regained the lead and got up by five heading to the break. 

Out of the locker room, the Vikings lead quickly grew to nine. The Nanooks managed to answer back, not allowing the lead to hit double-digits, but at the 14:22 mark, Western finally broke the threshold and made it an 11-point deficit for Alaska at 70-59. Unfortunately the Nanooks never got back within single-digits. Western eventually made it a 20-point deficit for the Nanooks at the 8:42 mark in the second and eventually made it 28 at the 5:38 mark that saw a number of technicals on both sides of the ball and two Nanooks ejected. 

Western went on to grab the win 119-92, defeating Alaska by 27.

Jaycson Bereal, Jr. and Abdullahi Mohamed led the Nanooks. Bereal had a game-high 29 points, going 10-17 from the floor, 1-1 from three, 8-9 from the free-throw line and added six rebounds and two assists and a block. Mohamed ended the night with 28 points, four rebounds, four assists, one block and steal and went 15-17 from the free-throw line. The only other Nanooks athlete in double-digits was Tyriq Luke, who ended with a dozen points and four rebounds.

Alaska is back at home next week as Saint Martin's and Western Oregon come to town. 

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