Box Score  CHICO--- The SF State Gators battled back from a 10-point deficit with 4:41 left in the game to tie the game two minutes later, but the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks held on for a 88-85 non-conference victory in the third game of the Carl's Jr. Mac Martin Tournament this afternoon in Chico. 
 
“We could not stop Alaska-Fairbanks this afternoon,” said SF State Head Coach Paul Trevor.  “This weekend was a good learning experience for our guys heading into the conference season in two weeks.” 
 
The Gators started off the first half taking an 18-12 lead on a three by Griffin Reilly with 12:07 to go in the first stanza. 
 
Alaska-Fairbanks (1-1) took its first lead of the first half, 28-26, on a three by Stefan Tica with 5:29 to go in the half.  Daniel Shaw's jumper with 3:26 left in the first 20 minutes gave the Nanooks a 34-30 lead.
 
SF State ended the half on a 7-2 run to take a 37-36 lead into the locker room.
 
James Albright's jumper gave the Gators a 44-40 early in the second half, but Alaska-Fairbanks (UAF)  took the lead back on another trey by Tico, 45-44, with 16:41 on the clock.
 
Five minutes later, the Gators (1-1) came back though and retook the lead, 62-60, on a jumper by Albright.  They increased their lead to 66-62 on a lay-up by Nefi Perdomo at the 10-minute mark of the second half. 
 
Tica, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, hit another three with 7:26 to go in the game capped a 10-3 run by the Nanooks to give the Gators' opponent a 72-69 lead.  The Nanooks increased that lead to 81-71 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Sergej Pucar with just 4:41 left in regulation.
 
The Gators then outscored Alaska-Fairbanks 11-0 in the next two minutes to tie the game at 81-81, when Albright connected on two free throws with 2:25 on the clock.
 
On the Nanooks' next possession, Jarrett Miller was fouled and connected on both free throws to give UAF a 83-81 lead with a little over two minutes left. 
 
The Gators had two chances to tie the game, but they turned the ball over and missed a three with 1:29 left in the game.  Miller stepped again and hit both free throws to increase the Nanooks' lead to 85-81 with a little under 90 seconds left on the clock.
 
Max Fodor was fouled on the Gators' next possession and connected on 1-of-2 free throws to cut the deficit to 85-82 with 68 seconds left in regulation. 
 
SF State had another chance to cut into the Nanook lead, but the Gators missed both ends of the free throw and Nico Matthews made both ends of his free throw attempt to give UAF a 87-82 lead with 29 ticks on the clock.
 
The Gators would not give up as Perdomo hit a three with 23 seconds to go to make it 87-85 Nanooks.  Miller was then fouled and connected on just one free throw to increase UAF's lead to 88-85. 
SF State had a chance to tie the game, but its three fell short as the Nanooks held on for the 88-85 victory.
 
Tica, was one of four Nanooks in double digits this afternoon, as he had a team high 30 points going 9 of 12 from the field including 8 of 10 from three-point land. 
 
Albright (who was named to the All-Tournament Team) and Reilly each recorded their first double-doubles as Gators this afternoon.  The Cal State Bakersfield transfer  finished the game with 32 points and 10 rebounds while Reilly had 16 points and 10 rebounds.  Perdomo, who joined Albright on the All-Tournament Team, finished the day scoring 14 points and dishing out 7 assists for the Gators.  SF State will return to the court this Friday, November 18 at 5:30pm in Rohnert Park, Calif, when the Gators face Concordia (Calif.) in the first game of the Ron Logsdon Classic on the campus of Sonoma State. 

All-Tournament Team