Men's basketball uses 18-point second half run to down CSUMB, 80-73
November 20, 2012
Jamie Foland
474-6807
The Alaska men's basketball team used an 18-0 run that spanned 3:35 in the second half as it was able to hold off Cal State Monterey Bay 80-73 on day one of the GCI Alaska Invitational Thursday night at the Patty Center.
The Nanooks (2-1) got a game-high 16 points from junior forward Stefan Tica (Belgrade, Serbia/Business and Finance) to go with his five rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Junior guard Pat Voeut (Bellingham, Wash./Communications) had 15 points and seven assists while junior center Sergej Pucar (Belgrade, Serbia/Business Administration) added 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Junior forward Andrew Kelly (Gilbert, Ariz./Justice Studies, Law & Society) also brought down a team-high 10 boards.
Alaska shot 41-percent for the game while holding Monterey Bay to a 34-percent night from the floor. The Otters (1-1) held the rebounding advantage at 48-40, including 18-11 on the offensive glass, but they committed 21 turnovers, to the 'Nooks' 13. Both teams saw considerable production from the reserves as CSUMB had 34 points off the bench and Alaska had 24. While the Otters shot 82-percent from the free throw line (23-28), the charity stripe wasn't friendly to the Nanooks, as they shot only 56-percent (18-32).
Trailing 52-46, a Tica jumper with 14:14 to go in regulation sparked a huge run by the Nanooks to ignite the crowd. Three Voeut free throws trimmed it to a point and a Tica trey gave Alaska the lead for good at 54-52. The Nanooks weren't done as it scored 10 more points, six coming by way of three-pointers and they led 64-52 with 10:39 to go.
The Otters cut it to five on four separate occasions down the stretch with the last coming at 78-73 with 16 ticks to go but Alaska shut the door by hitting free throws to preserve the win in its home opener.
CSUMB was paced by Brandon Ward, who led five Otters in double figures with 14 points. Geoff McIntosh, Alex Fertig and Coley Apsay all had 11 while Kevin Loustale chipped in 10 points. Derrick Anderson also led all players with a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Nanooks return to the Patty Center court Friday at 5:15 p.m. (AKST) when it faces Oklahoma Panhandle State (1-1), which fell 70-54 to Colorado Christian (2-1) in game one of the Alaska Invitational on Thursday. Monterey Bay opens session two with a game against CCU at 3 p.m.