March 12, 2005

Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington University was held to a season-low point output as University of Alaska Fairbanks, led by the game-high 28 points of forward Brad Oleson, defeated the Vikings, 88-66, Saturday in a West Regional semifinal of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball National Tournament on Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium on the Western Washington University campus.

Western, the No.1 seed in the region and ranked No.15 in the NABC/NCAA II Coaches Poll, finished its season 22-7. Center Tyler MacMullen (Jr., Mukilteo/Kamiak) had a team-high 16 points for the Vikings, who entered the contest averaging 92.2 points a game and had reached 100 points in six of their last 10 games.

Alaska Fairbanks, the No.5 seed, improved to 21-8 with its ninth win in the last 10 games. Forward Justin Bourne added 20 points on 7-of-9 field-goal shooting as the Nanooks shot 62.5 percent (30-of-48) from the field.

It was the first loss in 15 games at Carver Gym for Western this season. The last loss was a 100-88 defeat to Alaska Fairbanks in the final game of the 2003-04 season.

Oleson, the West Region Player of the Year, was 9-of-14 from the field, hitting 7-of-9 3-pointers, and also had a game-high nine assists.

The Nanooks never trailed, using a run of 12 straight points, the first four by Bourne and the last eight by Oleson, to open up a 20-7 lead 7:12 into the game.

UAF led, 45-21, at halftime and the lead reached a peak of 28 points, 52-26, just over two minutes into the second half. Western did rally, using a run of nine straight points to close the margin to 15, 56-41, with 14 minutes left, and eventually getting to within 11, 64-53, as the Nanooks went nearly four minutes without a field goal.

"It was disappointing that we didn't play well," said Western coach Brad Jackson. "That was probably one of our worst games of the year."

The two teams tied for GNAC title at 13-5, and split two games during regular season.

Guard Chris Smith had 14 points for Alaska Fairbanks, and forward Andrew Smith added 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Guard Ryan Diggs (Jr., Victorville, CA/Silverado) had 11 points and five assists for Western, but the Vikings shot just 38.8 percent (26-of-67) from the field. Western, which shot 42.1 percent from 3-point range during the regular season, was just 5-of-25 (20.0 percent) on Saturday, and 8-of-43 (18.6 percent) in two tournament games.

Alaska Fairbanks meets Cal Poly Pomona on Monday (7 p.m.) for the regional championship.