FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Western Oregon University men's basketball team sunk 15 three-pointers and had five reach double-figures in scoring, but a late push over the final minutes of the game by Alaska Fairbanks sent the Nanooks to the 89-83 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory on Saturday.
The 15 three-pointers is the third-most in a game this season just behind the pair of 16 three-pointer performances against Sonoma State and Montana State Billings. The Wolves posted 29 three-pointers against the Nanooks in the two games this season sinking 14 in Monmouth back in early December.
Tyreek Price led the way for the Wolves (7-17, 6-10 GNAC) with 18 points, going 5-10 from three-point range. He also added four assists. Yosani Clay went for 17 points, six assists and six steals, going 4-8 from three. Daisone Hughes also added 17 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Collin Warmouth caught fire from three as well tallying all 15 of his points from deep going 5-6 from downtown. He also added eight rebounds. John Morrill-Keeler rounded out the five in double-figures with 12 points and seven rebounds, along with two blocks. WOU went 29-66 (43.9) from the field, 15-34 (44.1) from three and 10-13 (76.9) at the foul line. WOU dominated on bench points (34-13) and held a 13-10 edge in second chance points.
Morrill-Keeler and Clay started the game with back-to-back baskets for the early 4-0 lead. Alaska Fairbanks (8-14, 5-11 GNAC) came back with a 10-0 run to move out to the 10-4 lead nearly five minutes in.
WOU came back with the next four points with Hughes hitting two from the line and then a jumper to pull the Wolves back to within two. After the Nanooks had the lead out to as many as 14, the Wolves came back before the half with Warmouth hitting a trey and Clay adding a free throw to leave UAF with the 45-38 lead at the break.
WOU started the second half strong and fought back to tie the game at 49 on another long ball by Warmouth. Morrill-Keeler added a three-point-play to push the Wolves in front at 52-49.
RJ Veliz drove inside for a tough jumper in the paint to give WOU the 62-57 lead near the midway point of the second half. A three-pointer by Clay stretched the lead to six and a Hughes jumper in transition in the paint kept the advantage at six.
Each time the Nanooks came close to regaining the lead, WOU had an answer for most of the second half. Warmouth hit another triple and Hughes added two free throws to keep the advantage at four with 6:43 to play.
UAF then threatened to pull away going on a 9-0 run to grab the 79-74 lead with just under four minutes to play. Clay ended the run sinking a big three-pointer to cut the deficit back to two. Clay then tallied a steal and eventually Qiant Myers found Hughes for a transition layup to tie the game at 79.
The teams traded baskets with Coleman Sparling making a jumper and Morrill-Keeler taking a pass from Price for the layup to tie the game again at 81 with two minutes to play.
The Nanooks posted the next five points and a layup by Morrill-Keeler kept WOU close at 86-83 with 26 seconds to play. UAF kept it a two possession game with Shadeed Shabazz hitting two from the line and after WOU missed on a couple of three-point tries, Shabazz secured the rebound and closed the scoring with a free throw for the 89-83 win for the Nanooks.
Shabazz led the way with 30 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists. Sparling tallied a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Abdullahi Mohamed was close to a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds. Jahvonta Jones also was within double-double range with 13 points and seven rebounds. Willie Thomas III gave UAF five in double-figures as well tallying 11 points. The Nanooks went 31-68 (45.6) from the field, 4-13 (30.8) from three and 23-31 (74.2) at the foul line.
WOU will now prepare for the GNAC Championships that will start this coming Wednesday hosted by both Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific. Seeding will be determined by the Points Rating System as WOU entered the week ranked ninth and that didn't include the games this week against Western Washington, Alaska Anchorage or Alaska Fairbanks.
