Men's basketball rallies in final minute to down SFU, 63-61
February 26, 2013
Jamie Foland
907-474-6807
Alaska held Simon Fraser scoreless for the final 3:36 and reeled off seven points to end the game to rally for a 63-61 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball victory Saturday afternoon at the Patty Center.
The Nanooks (15-9, 10-6 GNAC) celebrated Senior Day and sent out senior guard Dominique Brinson (Juneau, Alaska/Accounting) and senior forward Zach Ngawaka (Keysborough, Australia/History) the right way with a win in the duo's final home game of their collegiate careers.
The Clan (6-19, 1-16 GNAC) grabbed a 61-56 with 3:37 to on a made jumper by Anto Olah. Junior guard Pat Voeut (Bellingham, Wash./Communication) drove the lane and hit the layup with 3:03 to go to cut the deficit to three and after a pair of missed shots by SFU and a Nanook turnover, Ibrahim Appiah committed an intentional foul and Brinson made both free throws with 51.9 to go to cut the Simon Fraser lead to one at 61-60.
The Nanooks maintained possession and with 38.9 left, Voeut found a cutting Brinson on the inbounds play and he converted the easy layup to give Alaska a 62-61 advantage, its first lead in nearly 12 minutes. After Alaska knocked the ball out of bounds, Voeut made a leaping attempt at Taylor Dunn's inbounding pass and stole it and was fouled with 23.8 remaining. He hit one of two free throws to give the 'Nooks a 63-61 lead.
Dunn tried to redeem himself but his go-ahead three-point attempt was off the mark and junior guard Ronnie Baker (Vallejo, Calif./Communication) was fouled with 6.8 to go. Baker missed the front end of a one-and-one and Matt Raivio had a chance to tie it but his layup in traffic was no good, and despite Appiah garnering the offensive rebound, the Clan never manufactured a shot before the buzzer.
Junior center Sergej Pucar turned in a game-high 16 points to go with a team-best eight rebounds while Voeut produced 14 points, four assists and four steals. Brinson had 13 points and junior forward Andrew Kelly (Gilbert, Ariz./Justice) added six points, seven boards and tied a career-high three blocks. Pucar also had two blocked shots.
Alaska shot 45 percent (21-47) for the game while holding Simon Fraser to 39 percent (24-62) shooting. Both teams shot well from outside as SFU was 50 percent (8-16) from three while Alaska was 47 percent (8-17) from downtown. The Nanooks out rebounded the Clan 38-30 but turned the ball over 21 times, to SFU's 12.
The Clan had a pair record double-doubles as Olah had 13 points and 11 rebounds while Appiah scored 10 points and brought down 10 rebounds to go with four steals. Four other players combined for 34 points.
By virtue of Western Washington's 63-57 win at Alaska Anchorage Saturday night, the Nanooks and Seawolves are both tied for third place in the league standings with two road games left.
Alaska travels to Billings, Mont., next Thursday to take on Montana State Billings at 5 p.m. (AKST) and wrap up the regular season Saturday at 6 p.m. (AKST) at No. 5 Seattle Pacific. UAA faces SPU Thursday and MSUB Saturday.