PORTLAND, Ore. – Tyriq Luke was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball Player of the Week on Monday, Feb. 23, after helping propel the Nanooks to two critical road wins over Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings last week. This is Luke's first-career player of the week honor.

"Going into the weekend I had a feeling someone would need to step up for us if we were going to come away with two really big road wins. Tyriq was that guy," said head coach Frank Ostanik. "He carried us the first half against SPU and on Saturday, he simply took over. Not only did Tyriq score at a very efficient level, but he also did a great job on the glass and setting up his teammates. It was exciting to watch someone who works as hard as Tyriq does play so well."

Luke began the week with a 12-point performance at Seattle Pacific on Thursday, Feb. 19, going 4-8 from the field, and helping the 'Nooks to a 78-74 win over the Falcons. However, his biggest statement came on Saturday, when the Fairbanks native went off for a career-high 38 points, helping the Nanooks claim a critical 101-97 overtime win over Montana State Billings and stay in the hunt for a GNAC Tournament berth. His 38 points were tied for the third-most in a single game by a GNAC player this season, and the most a Nanook has scored since May 2, 2022, vs. Simon Fraser in the opening round of the GNAC tournament. He knocked down six of 11 threes during the contest, which also marked a career-high for makes beyond the arc. Luke added seven rebounds, five assists and a steal in the win.

The Nanooks close out the regular season with a pair of home contests this week, welcoming Saint Martin's and Western Oregon to Fairbanks for a pair of big GNAC matchups.

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