FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team fell to the Saint Martin's Saints this afternoon to fall to 5-4, 1-1 GNAC on the season. SMU grabbed a 71-63 win over the Nanooks to move to 11-2, 2-0 GNAC on the year.

How it Happened
Saint Martin's jumped out to a 15-point first half lead before the Nanooks used a strong second half to crawl back into the game. Down the stretch, SMU pulled away to grab the eight-point win. In the first, the Saints opened up with three straight three-pointers, making it 9-2 in the first 1:50 of play. A pair of Jalai O'Keith free throws and a Jordan Gill layup pulled the 'Nooks to within three. Quickly, Saint Martin's jumped out to a double-digit lead, stretching it to as large as 18 at the 4:55 mark. Paul Johnson and Chris Lee put up the final four points of the half on four free throws, pulling Alaska to back within 15 at the break.

Out of the locker room, SMU's momentum stood as they took a 20-point lead 2:45 into the second. A tip-in from Elyon Zevenbergen sparked a Nanooks' run as his brother Shiloh Zevenbergen added a three to cut the lead to 14. The next possession for Alaska saw another trey as Chris Lee connected from deep making it an 11-point deficit. Gill would bring the SMU lead down to single-digits with a pair of free throws and Isaiah Saams-Hoy made it six on a three with 9:19 left to play. The Nanooks would eventually get it down to four with another Saams-Hoy three at the 5:30 mark, but the Saints would fend off any final runs from the blue and gold. Another Saams-Hoy jumper at the four-minute mark got the deficit to four but Alaska could not crack the four-point threshold that SMU held. Chris Lee made it four for the final time with 1:08 left on the clock from a Saams-Hoy steal, but free throws down the stretch gave the Saints the eight-point victory. 

Inside the Numbers

• Isaiah Saams-Hoy led the way with 24 points on 9-17 shooting and 4-9 from deep. He added nine rebounds, two assists and steals in the effort. 
• Chris Lee was next for the Nanooks with nine points. 
• As a team, the Nanooks shot 31.8% from the floor and 25.9% from deep while SMU shot 38.5% from the floor and 44.4% from three. 
• Alaska outshot SMU from the charity stripe 87.5% to 54.5%, going 14-16 from the line.
• SMU posted the rebounding advantage 46-44. They also posted a 9-7 advantage in assists.
• Alaska blocked six shots to SMU's four and both sides had six steals. 

What's to Come
Alaska heads to Florida in a couple of weeks for two games in Saint Leo, Fla. They'll take on Palm Beach Atlantic on Dec. 20 before facing the host school, Saint Leo, on Dec. 21.

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