Kurtis Gosney/Sun Star Reporter
Nov. 26, 2013
Men’s Basketball
Senior guard and Communication student Ronnie Baker guards an Emporia State player. Kurtis Gosney/Sun Star
The UAF Men’s basketball team played in the annual GCI Alaska Invitational last Thursday through Saturday. The three teams that traveled to Fairbanks were the Mary University Marauders, Fresno Pacific University Sunbirds and Emporia State University Hornets.
The Nanooks beat the Marauders on Thursday night with a score of 84-57. The Marauders had a 5-0 lead in the first half, but the Nanooks regained the lead. The Nanooks’ biggest lead of the game was 84-54 with 23 seconds left in the game. Junior guard and Communication student Joe Slocum led all scorers with 18 points for the Nanooks.
The Nanooks beat the Hornets 67-58 in Friday night’s match-up, improving to a 4-1 this season. UAF had a 16-7 lead midway through the first half, but Emporia State gained a 21-18 lead. The teams kept the game close for the rest of the half, the Nanooks getting a 31-28 lead going into halftime. The Nanooks never trailed in the second half, allowing them to get the victory. Senior guard and Communication student Ronnie Baker finished with 17 points for the Nanooks leading all scorers. Senior forward and Justice student Andrew Kelly chipped in 16. Friday’s win put the Nanooks in the championship game against the Sunbirds who had been 2-0 in their last two games of the tournament.
The Nanooks trailed by as many as nine points in the first half of Saturday’s game, but they slowly chipped away at the Sunbirds’ lead and got a 29-26 lead going into halftime. The Nanooks never trailed in the second half. The Nanooks’ biggest lead of the game was 73-57. They went on to win the game 83-72. Three Nanooks scored more than 10 points in the game, including Baker with 29 points, senior center and Business Administration student Sergej Pucar with 25 and Kelly with 12. Senior guard Malcolm Griffin scored 39 points for Fresno Pacific to break a tournament record for points in one game.
The Nanooks will travel to Riverside, California for two games next Friday and Saturday against the Azusa Pacific University Cougars and California Baptist University Lancers
Volleyball
The UAF Volleyball team played its final two games of the season against the Seattle Pacific University Falcons last Thursday and Montana State University-Billings Yellowjackets last Saturday. Both these games were away from Fairbanks.
The Nanooks fell to the Falcons in Thursday’s match-up three sets to zero. The Nanooks never led in the first set and the final score was 25-14 in favor of the Falcons. The second set was much closer. For most of the set, the Falcons would get a two-point lead just to watch the Nanooks tie the score again. The Nanooks had a couple one-point leads late, but the Falcons went on a big scoring run to win 25-18, putting themselves up 2-0 going into the 10-minute intermission. The Falcons went on to win the third set 25-14, earning the match victory.
The Nanooks won the first set in their final game on Saturday 25-17 against the Yellowjackets, but MSUB won the next three sets to get the match victory 3-1. The final scores of the next three sets were 25-18, 25-17 and 25-15.
The Nanooks ended the 2013 season with a record of 4-25.
Hockey
The UAF Hockey team traveled to Big Rapids, Michigan for a weekend series against the Ferris State University Bulldogs.
The Nanooks lost Friday’s game 5-3. The Bulldogs scored the first four goals of the game, one in the first period, two in the second and another 44 seconds into the third. The Nanooks responded with three straight goals of their own, courtesy of freshman right wingman and Business Administration student Marcus Basara, senior center and Business Administration student Cody Kunyk and sophomore center and Business Administration student Tyler Morley. The score was now 4-3, but the Bulldogs scored the final goal of the game with 32 seconds left to earn the victory.
The Nanooks lost Saturday’s game 4-3 to the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs scored all of the game’s first three goals in the first period. The Nanooks scored three straight goals of their own in the second, two from Kunyk and one from sophomore defenseman and Business Administration student Colton Parayko, tying the game at 3-3. The Bulldogs, however, scored one final goal towards the end of the period to take the 4-3 lead.
The Nanooks are now 5-5-2 on the season. They will return home next Friday and Saturday against the Michigan Tech University Huskies.
Rifle
Sophomore English student Lorelie Stanfield looks down-range against the Kentucky Wildcats. Kurtis Gosney/Sun Star
The UAF Men’s and Women’s Rifle team hosted the Kentucky University Wildcats in two matches at the E.F. Horton Rifle Range in the Patty Center last Saturday and Sunday.
The Nanooks won Saturday’s match 4702-4671 breaking their own two-month-old record. The Nanooks fired a 2337 in the smallbore event, which is the best score in the National Collegiate Athletic Association so far this year, and a 2365 in the air rifle. Sophomore Mechanical Engineering student Tim Sherry of the Nanooks finished with a 588 in the smallbore to lead all shooters. Junior Biological Sciences student Ryan Anderson turned in a 594 in the air rifle.
The Nanooks won Sunday’s match 4695-4689. The Nanooks fired a 2325 in the smallbore to Kentucky’s 2322. The Nanooks also fired a 2370 in the air rifle discipline to the Wildcats’ 2367. Sherry lead all Nanooks in both events, finishing with a 590 in the smallbore and 595 in air rifle.
The next match for the Nanooks is Jan. 9.
