FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team fell to Western Washington in gut-wrenching fashion on Thursday night, as the Vikings drilled the go-ahead 3-pointer with four seconds remaining in overtime to give them a, 100-99, victory over the Nooks at the Alaska Airlines Court.
Alaska led, 99-94, with 18 seconds remaining in overtime, but the Vikings would pull within two after a Jeffery Parker old-fashion three-point play. The Nanooks failed to get the ball inbounds, as they gave the ball back to WWU with 10.6 remaining on the clock. Brett Kingma delivered the game-winning trifecta from corner with four seconds left and handed Alaska a stunning one-point overtime defeat.
"That's a tough loss," said head coach Mick Durham. "We really struggled the first half, but boy, did we come out to play in the second half. You have to finish games like this. Crazy things happened tonight, especially late in the second. Western Washington was picked to win the league, and they showed how talented they are tonight. We will move on, we don't have a choice but to move on. We did a lot of great things in overtime, but obviously they hit a big three at the end to win it for them."
The loss puts an end to the Nooks' six-game winning streak, as they drop their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest this season. Alaska falls back to second place in the GNAC with a 4-1 mark and they are now 10-3 on the year. For Western Washington, the win improves them to 9-5 on the year and 3-2 in league play.
The last-second defeat put a damper on a career-night from senior guard Travante Williams, as he turned in a career-best 35-point performance. Williams is the first Nooks to have a 30-point outing in over a year, as Ashton Edwards was the last Alaska player to accomplish the feat. Edwards tallied 30 points against the same Western Washington team on the first day of 2015 last season.
Williams also picked up a team-leading third double-double on the night, as he grabbed a team-best 12 rebounds. The Anchorage, Alaska native also added six steals and handed out three assists in the loss.
The senior was one of four players in double-digits for Alaska on the night, as the starting five produced 92 of the team's 99 points. Junior Brandon Davis recorded 19 points to mark his sixth double-digit scoring performance in his last eight games. Davis and Williams hit all six of the Nooks' 3-point field goals on the night, as each player had three each.
Senior Almir Hadzisehovic tied his season-best effort in the scoring column on Thursday with 17 points. Junior forward Bangaly Kaba recorded 12 points, and redshirt senior Joe Slocum nearly missed out on a double-double of his own by scoring nine points and tying his career-high in assists with eight.
The Nanooks defense forced 18 Western Washington turnovers, which led to a 22-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Vikings were aided by deep shot all night, as they hit 16 trifectas in the win. Parker drilled a game-best eight 3-point field goals en route to his game-high 39-point performance, while Kingma added five, which included his game-sealing 3-pointer with four seconds remaining.
Alaska trailed by 10 points midway through the first half at 32-22, but they pulled within two points, 38-36, with 3:15 before the break after a Slocum layup. That would be the last basket the Nooks would score in the first, as WWU closed the half on a 9-0 run to go up 11, 47-36, heading into the locker room.
The Nanooks defense came into the second half on a mission, as they held the Vikings scoreless during the first 4:50 of the stanza, to turn an 11-point deficit into a two-point lead at 49-47 with 15:10 remaining. Alaska built its lead to 11 points, as they went on a 25-3 run during the first 8:57 of the second half.
Western Washington battled back and pulled within two points, 71-69, after a Blake Bowen 3-pointer with 3:32 remaining. The two teams traded baskets before Parker hit a trifecta with 1:37 left on the clock to pull the Vikings within a point at 75-74. Alaska responded on the next possession with an old-fashion three-point play from Kaba to go up 78-74 with 1:13 remaining. The Nooks failed to grab the rebound off a Vikings 3-point miss on their next possession, as Kyle Impero collected the offensive board and put in the stick back to pull his team within two points with a minute left.
Alaska hit one-of-two free throws with 21 seconds remaining to take a three-point lead at 79-76. With no timeouts remaining, WWU went the full length of the court and Ricardo Maxwell hit a deep 3-point field goal to knot the game up at 79-all with 11 seconds left. The Nanooks could not convert on a deep 3-point attempt of their own, as they went to overtime for the first time this season.
In the extra frame, the two teams tallied a combined 41 points. Alaska held a six-point lead with 42 seconds remaining, but they could not hold onto to the lead, as Kingma's heroics gave Western Washington the one-point win.
Alaska returns to action on Saturday night, as they take on Simon Fraser at 7:30 p.m. at the Alaska Airlines Court. Saturday's game will be the school's 'Hometown Heroes' promotion, as all first responders, emergency personal and military members get in free with a valid service ID.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Twitter.
