On Top Of The World: Alaska Battles back to shock Oregon State, 62-60

Submitted by Tom Myrick
Phone: 907-474-6805
11/18/07

Nanooks advance to tournament’s fourth place game

The Saturday evening session brought in the biggest crowd to date at this year’s BP Top of the World Classic. The Alaska Nanooks made sure they got their money’s worth.

In the most dramatic of fashions, the Nanooks (3-1) knocked off Division I Oregon State, 62-60 in the biggest surprise result of this year’s tournament. Alaska showed great character, battling back from an eight-point second half deficit against a bigger, stronger Beaver team to snatch their third and most important win of the young season.

"I can’t say enough about the young men that I have underneath me and the coaching staff that I have," said head coach Clemon Johnson. "I am very proud of what we were able to do tonight. We fought, we fought, and we fought" and when the game was over, we had won it."

It could have easily been a different story for the Nanooks, however, as the game hung in the balance all the way down to the final shot. Oregon State’s Marcel Jones got a decent look at a potential game-winning three-pointer from the corner at the buzzer, but his shot hit the back rim and bounced out, sending the Carlson Center crowd of 2,893 into raptures.

Trailing by seven with just over six minutes to go, Alaska trimmed away the deficit in 55 seconds, embarked on a 10-0 run to take a lead that they would never relinquish. The Blue and Gold got clutch performances from point guard Keven Campbell and defensive specialist Bo Edwards: two non-starters who spent the majority of the second half on the floor for the surging Nanooks.

"We knew we would need someone to step up outside of our three big men: Mladen Begojevic, Kevin Atkins, and Colin Matteson," said Johnson. "Tonight, that man was Keven Campbell."

Sharpshooter Mladen Begojevic turned in a team-high 17 points, hitting six of his nine shots from the floor, including a vital three-pointer that started the Alaska comeback. Campbell was the team’s second highest scorer, putting up 15 points in just 21 minutes on the floor.

For Oregon State (0-2), Jones finished with 23 points and eight rebounds: both game-highs. Seth Tarver also turned in 13 points prior to be ejected for a hard foul with two minutes remaining.

With the win, Alaska advances to the tournament’s fourth-place game on Sunday, where they will meet IUPUI. The Jaguars earned their passage by knocking off USC Upstate 80-54 earlier in the day. Tip-off in that game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

On the web at BP Top of the World Classic or visit alaskananooks.cstv.com.