ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Koby Huerta buried a mid-court 3-pointer at the buzzer to lead Alaska Fairbanks to a 75-73 victory over Hawai'i Pacific on Sunday afternoon in the GNAC-PacWest Challenge at the Alaska Airlines Center.
 
The Sharks (0-2) had overcome a 20-point first half deficit and taken a five-point lead before the Nanooks (1-1) used a pair of Huerta treys in the final seconds to win the game.
 
Freshman Lachlan Viney of Melbourne, Australia/Mazenod led the Sharks with 20 points, as senior Ronald Blain of McDonough, Ga./Union Grove added 16 points and junior David Rowlands of Dayton, Ohio/Moorpark 13. Sam Houston State transfer junior Chidozie Ndu of Lagos, Nigeria/Sunrise Christian Academy (Kan.), led the Sharks with nine rebounds.
 
The Nanooks were paced by Shadeed Shabazz with 23 points and nine rebounds, Spencer Sweet posted 15 points and Huerta 12 points.
 
HPU shot 47 percent from the field (28-of-60), that included 8-of-24 (33 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks also hit 9-of-15 (60 percent) from the free throw line. The Nanooks connected on 48 percent from the floor (31-of-64), with 9-of-25 (36 percent) from the arc. UAF made 4-of-7 at the charity stripe (57 percent). The Nanooks out rebounded the Sharks 37-34, but also turned the ball over 20 times to the Sharks 17.
 
The Sharks opened the game as cold as the weather as the Nanooks went on a 14-0 run in the first six minutes. The first HPU score came at the 13:51 mark when junior Tavon Tarpley of McLean, Va./Langley got a layup to make it 14-2. Alaska stretched the lead to 20 points at 32-12 with 6:34 remaining in the first half. The Sharks responded with a 17-5 to cut the lead to eight with under a minute left, but a Markel Banks jumper put the Nanooks up by 10 at the half, 39-29.
 
UAF and HPU traded scores with the Nanooks opening an 11-point advantage with 14:48 to go on a Shabazz 3-pointer that made it 52-41. That's when the Sharks kicked it into gear, starting with a 3-pointer from senior Neema Namdar of Sandy, Utah/Alta that keyed a 19-4 run. HPU tied the contest at 56-all on a dunk by Ndu, then took the lead at 58-56 on a Blain layup. The run ended with a Viney layup with 6:22 to play with HPU up 60-56.
 
The Nanooks answered by trading points with the Sharks as the lead swapped four times until a Viney 3-pointer that put HPU up 65-63 with 3:38 left.
 
The Sharks built the lead to five with 2:32 to go on a Viney layup, but UAF came back to tie the contest at 69 with 93 seconds to go. The Sharks got a layup from Tarpley to lead 71-69, and the defenses held until an offensive foul gave the ball back to HPU. Blain converted a layup with eight seconds left for a four-point 73-69 lead.
 
But the Nanooks hurried down for a Huerta's first triple with three seconds to go. A foul by Banks put the Sharks on the foul line, but Namdar missed both shots. Banks got the rebound and fired to Huerta who lifted the mid-court 3-pointer that found the mark as the horn sounded to give the Nanooks a 75-73 win.
 
The Sharks leave Alaska, but remain on the mainland as they play twice in Washington State. HPU visits Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, Wash., on Tuesday. Tipoff at Lummi Nation Gym is scheduled for 5 p.m. HST (7 p.m. PST).