This weekend Fairbanks played host to seven Division I basketball teams for the Top of the World Classic. The Nanooks ended up taking sixth place out of the seven teams.

Thursday the Nanooks took on the Tennessee State Tigers 78-64. The game was tight throughout, as the Tigers had just a three-point lead going into halftime. The Nanooks erased that lead just five minutes into the second half, with two lay-ups from junior Philippe Jourdain.

Unfortunately, the Nanooks couldn’t keep up that momentum, and the Tigers, who were shooting over 55 percent both in the paint and from three-point range, pulled away.

Junior Colin Matteson and sophomore Kevin Atkins each hit 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds for the Nanooks.

Saturday the Nanooks took on the Oregon State Beavers. In the high-energy Carlson Center, the Nanooks took the beavers down 62-60.

“We fought and we fought and we fought,” said coach Clemon Johnson after the game, “and as you see, when the game was over with, we had won it.”

Alaska was down eight points at the second half against the much taller Beavers. The Nanooks battled back in the second half, and the crowd of over 2,800 picked up their energy as well.

The last 20 seconds of the game had fans on the edge of their seats. Three Alaska players took to the free-throw line, for three points. A Josh Tarver three-pointer for the Beavers with just seven seconds brought the game to within one point. Freshman Keven Campbell was fouled just a second later, and sunk one to put the Nanooks up by two.

OSU’s Marcel Jones had a good look at a buzzer-beating three-pointer that would have brought victory by one, but the shot hit the back of the rim and bounced out of the net, securing the Nanooks’ victory.

Despite an injured foot and knee, junior transfer Mladen Begojevic was Alaska’s top scorer with 17 points. “This is probably the best game that I’ve played in the last three years, my college career,” he said after the game.

Campbell finished second for the ‘Nooks with 15 points. “Outside of our normal big three,” Johnson said after the game, “we’re going to need someone to stand up, and that young man was Keven Campbell.”

Many comments were made to the heart of the team. OSU coach Jay John complimented the Nanooks’ “feistiness.” Begojevic, when asked if he thought the Beavers were expecting Alaska to ‘just go away,’ said, “We’re not gonna go away… Everybody’s saying we don’t have size, but we have size.” He thumped his chest, “We’ll be good.”

Beaver coach Jay John attributed the loss to his team’s free throws and turnovers.

“We let the game get away from us by not converting the free-throw opportunities that we had,” he said. OSU turned the ball over to the Nanooks 21 times in the game, while the Nanooks held that number to just 12.

Sunday’s game for the Nanooks wasn’t quite the same performance. The IUPUI Jaguars rolled over Alaska 82-47. Senior captain Mike Titus didn’t play due to illness, dealing the Nanooks a blow before the game even started. The Jags then dominated on the court, giving the ‘Nooks a 50-21 score to think about over the halftime break.

Campbell again shone for Alaska, putting up nine points and sinking both of his free-throws. He was joined in the spotlight by fellow freshman DeRay Carger, who was second in scoring with 11 points, including three shots from behind the arc.

Begojevic again lead the Nanooks with 15 points and four rebounds.

George Hill led the Jags with 26 points and his second basket of the night put him over 1,000 career points for IUPUI.

The Colorado Rams faced the Portland State Vikings in the championship game Sunday. The Rams received heavy press before the tournament for their high turnover from last season; only two players returned. Despite that, they came out on top. In their first game, they took out Oregon State 69-56. They then beat Tennessee State 87-68. Their 64-63 victory in the title game didn’t come easy. Portland State lead the entire game until tournament MVP Stuart Creason made a turnaround jumper with just 15 seconds left to play. The shot didn’t quite seal the Rams’ victory. Portland’s Dupree Lucas attempted a buzzer-beater that bounced off the back of the rim.