Alaska Caps Glacier Classic With Win Over HPU, 91-77

This is what happens when Alaska’s starters come out and play well on all sides of the ball: they win games. They added their second win of the season with a 91-77 game against Hawaii Pacific in the final session of the 2010 Glacier Classic.

Parrish West continued to showcase himself on the Patty Center floor – this time with 33 points and six rebounds.

The difference in Saturday’s game was the production that came in around West. Jarrett Miller finished with 19 points, including three three-pointers. He was a threat from any distance.

Lavern Adrese added another 11 points to the starters’ efforts. Boe Edwards tallied seven.

But the key to the win was Brett Barkman, who also finished in double digits with 14 points, but added a team-high nine rebounds. Head coach Clemon Johnson said after the game that Barkman needs to be scoring or rebounding in every single game. He did both Saturday and proved that he’s going to be a double-double threat throughout the season.

The Nanooks led by as much as 17 points in the second half with 29 seconds to play. The lead was amassed by West and the other starters. The team needed just seven points from its bench in the game.

Here’s where conversation leads now: the Nanooks defeated a Sea Warriors team that previously beat two GNAC teams this season. Not only does that say that the Nanooks can compete in the conference. The win strengthens the GNAC against the PacWest Conference in NCAA ranking and seeding.

Alaska Anchorage was able to beat the Sea Warriors 75-53 on Friday night.

Alaska returns to action Dec. 18-19 in Anchorage with nonconference games against Walla Walla (Dec. 18, 5 p.m.) and Florida Tech (Dec. 19, 3 p.m.)