FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Five Nanooks scored in double digits and Alaska Fairbanks made 15 of 23 attempts from 3-point range as UAF rolled to an 87-65 Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball victory over visiting Montana State University Billings Saturday afternoon at the Patty Center.
 
The Nanooks (6-16, 3-11 GNAC) shot 61.2 percent from the field overall (30-for-49), but the 'Jackets were also well above average at 50.0 percent (24-for-48). Marc Matthews scored 20 points for the second game in-a-row, following Thursday's career-best 25 with 20 on 5 of 9 accuracy from 3-point range. Jace Anderson also netted 20 points for the 'Jackets on 4 of 8 from downtown, as the duo accounted for nine of MSUB's 12 3-pointers on the day.
 
For UAF, Anthony Reese and Kyle Tomlinson both scored 15 points, with Reese shooting 3-for-3 from long range and Tomlinson shooting 4-for-6. Ashton Edwards and Rashaad Allen each also hit three 3-pointers, and the former finished with 13 points and the latter 11. Alex Duncan also had 13 points for UAF, and kicked in a team-best four rebounds.
 
"Give credit to Alaska Fairbanks," said MSUB head coach Jamie Stevens. "They shot the ball about as well as a team can shoot it. It kind of got contagious and every guy for them seemed to be hot. Offensively we played okay, but unfortunately we just didn't have any answers on the other end."
 
The teams traded buckets out of the gate, battling to the tune of 9-9 by the 16:19 mark. A Tomlinson layup was followed by treys from Edwards and Allen that built UAF's lead to 17-9.
 
The 'Jackets (5-20, 3-12 GNAC) responded with a jumper by Anderson and a three by Matthews for a 5-0 run, and a three by Anderson with 9:31 remaining cut the deficit to two points, 19-17.
 
UAF began to pull away as halftime neared, as another three by Allen gave the Nanooks a 10-point lead, 35-25. Matthews hit a three for MSUB, but Tomlinson answered with one of his own as UAF maintained control with 4:15 before the half.
 
With five seconds left on the clock, Reese connected from long range, giving UAF a 12-point 48-36 lead as the teams headed for the locker rooms.
 
After a layup by Reese to open the second half, MSUB scored seven-straight points to cut the spread to seven. Back-to-back threes by Tomlinson and Reese midway through the second extended UAF's advantage to 13 at 61-48, and Allen added another trey with 10:47 left to make it 65-48.
 
The Yellowjackets went nearly seven minutes without scoring, a drought that helped the Nanooks pull away inside of 10 minutes to play.
 
On the game MSUB held a 24-21 edge in rebounding, but the Nanooks had 19 assists compared with MSUB's 11. UAF shot 75.0 percent from the foul line (12-for-16) while MSUB finished at 71.4 percent accuracy (5-for-7).
 
Tyler Nelson was the leading rebounder for the 'Jackets with seven, and Matthews was named the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game for the second game in-a-row.
 
"We are looking forward to getting back to Billings and getting some extra practice this week as we prepare for Seattle Pacific," Stevens said.
 
NEXT WEEK: The Yellowjackets face Seattle Pacific on Feb. 21 in a game featured on ROOT SPORTS. Tipoff is at 4 p.m. Mountain time at Brougham Pavilion on Saturday in Seattle.