FAIRBANKS - The Nanooks men's team went toe-to-toe with the #1-ranked Saint Martin's Saints on Thursday, Jan. 26 but ultimately fell 92-81. 

Alaska trailed by only one at the break before the Saints outscored the 'Nooks by 10 in the second-half to take the 92-81 win. In the first, the Nanooks use a 59.26% shooting performance to hang within one point of SMU. The 'Nooks went 16-27 from the floor while SMU went 20-37. The Nanooks also added five made threes and eight free-throws.

Trey Anderson got Alaska on the board first, connecting on a triple from the corner to give the Nanooks a quick 3-2 lead. Jaycson Bereal, Jr. followed up that three-pointer with a layup, extending the lead to 5-2 in the opening 1:17. SMU used a small run to grab the lead, a lead they'd maintain from the 6-5 mark until the 28-27 mark when Mawich Kachjaani knocked down a pair of free throws. Saint Martin's went on a run, going ahead by six at the 5:35 mark before Alaska used five-straight points from Trey Anderson and a Nick Hopkins three to tie the game back at 36-36. They'd battle back to take the lead four times in the final 2:33 but back-to-back jumpers by SMU gave them the one-point lead after the opening 20 minutes. 

Quickly out of the break, the Nanooks had a three-point lead on a pair of Tyriq Luke jumpers. Their lead would grow to as many as six in the opening four minutes when Mawich Kachjaani scored after a Demarcus Hall-Scriven steal. Alaska's lead would get cut into and SMU regained the lead at 60-58 on a Jayshawn Moore layup. After trading buckets and leads, the game was tied at 71-71 with 8:31 remaining when SMU went on an 11-0 run and took a 79-71 lead. Alaska pulled within five on three separate occasions in the final 6:10 but that was as close as they'd get in the second. SMU went on to grab an 11-point victory at 92-81.

Trey Anderson led the Nanooks with 17 points. He went 5-6 from the floor and 3-4 from three. He added two assists and steals and one rebound. Jaycson Bereal, Jr. had 13 opints, five rebounds and an assist. Luke ended the night with a dozen points, five assists, three rebounds and a steal. Mawich Kachjaani went 4-5 from the floor and finished with 11 points and four rebounds. 

The Nanooks return to action on their home floor on Saturday, Jan. 27 as they welcome Western Oregon to town at 5:15 p.m.

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