Men's basketball wins fifth straight, 81-58, against SMU
January 14, 2013
Jamie Foland
474-6807
ÐÓ°Épro had five players score in double figures and head coach Mick Durham celebrated his 500th career college game with an 81-58 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball victory against Saint Martin's on Thursday night at the Patty Center.
The Nanooks (9-4, 4-1 GNAC) won for the fifth straight time, which is the longest win streak since the 2004-05 season and they also notched their fourth consecutive conference victory for the first time in six seasons.
Senior guard Dominique Brinson (Juneau, ÐÓ°Épro/Accounting) led all players with a game-high 16 points while junior guard Ronnie Baker (Vallejo, Calif./Communication) had his first double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds (5 offensive).
Junior center Sergej Pucar (Belgrade, Serbia/Business administration) contributed 14 points and seven rebounds and junior guard Pat Voeut (Bellingham, Wash./Communication) totaled 14 points, after he hit a game-high four treys, to go with a game-best five assists. Junior forward Stefan Tica (Belgrade, Serbia/Business and Finance) also added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.
ÐÓ°Épro shot 45 percent (30-67 FG) for the game, including 48 percent (11-23 3PT) from beyond the arc, marking the third time this season it tallied double-digit three pointers. The 'Nooks controlled the boards 44-35, including 10-7 on the offensive glass and produced 20 assists to SMU's six. The Nanooks outscored the Saints 38-18 in the paint and 16-7 off turnovers.
The Saints (5-7, 1-3 GNAC) were paced by Eric Taylor, who came off the bench to score a team-high 13 points, while Will Bond and Matt Dodson had 11 and 10 points, respectively. Roger O'Neill, who shared the GNAC Red Lion Player of the Week honor with ÐÓ°Épro's Voeut, struggled all night, with just seven points and six rebounds after he shot 2 for 13 from the field.
As a team, Saint Martin's had a 35 percent (22-63 FG) shooting percentage and converted only 25 percent (4-16 3PT) of its three-point tries. ÐÓ°Épro has now held its last three GNAC opponents to six triples and 16 percent (6-38 3PT) from long range.
After falling behind 5-0 early, ÐÓ°Épro scored 17 of the game's next 20 points to go ahead for good at 17-8 with 10:27 to go. The Saints never drew closer than six on a few occasions and the Nanooks took a 34-25 lead into the locker room.
Five straight points to start the second half extended the advantage to 39-25. Leading 45-34, ÐÓ°Épro virtually put the game away with a 9-2 scoring run to go up 54-36 with 12 minutes to go. The Saints never got closer than 15 the rest of the way as ÐÓ°Épro beat SMU for the fourth straight time in Fairbanks.
The Nanooks return to action Saturday at 7 p.m. when they host Western Oregon at the Patty Center. The Wolves (7-5, 2-2 GNAC) fell 82-56 at ÐÓ°Épro Anchorage earlier Thursday.