Grabbing an early lead in a low-scoring first half, the University of Alaska Fairbanks men’s basketball team held on for a 64-56 victory Thursday night over Seattle Pacific to open Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
The Nanooks used defensive pressure, especially clogging the middle, to prevent the Falcons from either driving or passing the ball inside with frequency. That forced SPU into a poor outside shooting night, as they hit just 36 percent for the night (20 of 55) including six of 22 from beyond the three-point line. Not scoring the first two and a half minutes of play, the Falcons went through six more stretches of over two minutes throughout the night when they couldn’t find the basket.
The Nanooks led by as many as 14 when Isaac Garcia dropped in a layup on an assist from Jaycson Bereal Jr. with 9:05 to play in the game. The closest SPU got from there was a five-point deficit with 1:14 to play, as UAF closed out the game with Garcia and Brian Nguyen hitting two free throws each.
While not having an exceptional shooting night — the Nanooks hit 47 percent from the field and four of 10 from three-point range — Abdullahi Mohamed had one of his most productive nights on the offensive end with 16 points while Tyler Mrus added 12.
and Paul Johnson scored eight.
The Nanooks will continue GNAC play at home on Saturday as they play host to the Montana State University–Billings Yellowjackets at 5:15 p.m. at the Alaska
