Men's basketball seniors reflect on special year on the hardwood
May 8, 2013
Jamie Foland
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Alaska men's basketball seniors Dominique Brinson (Juneau, Alaska/Accounting) and Zach Ngawaka (Keysborough, Australia/History) had final collegiate seasons to remember as the duo weren't just a part of this so-called rebuilding process but were instrumental in surprising the conference, region and country with one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in college basketball.
But what made Brinson's and Ngawaka's final year playing college ball more special includes the two coming from two entirely different places up until this year. Born and raised in Juneau, Alaska, Brinson was a member of the 2011-12 team that went 5-23 overall and finished last in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings at 2-16 while Ngawaka spent that year 3,000 miles away in Honolulu, Hawaii, at Brigham Young University-Hawaii as a backup post player seeing limited minutes.
“I gave myself a week after season to just relax, then I got back to work,” Brinson said. “It was my goal to have a winning record and to not have a season like my junior year. Getting in the weight room was a huge step for me because at the end of that season, I felt I wasn't strong with the ball.”
“I came from a team that was pretty loaded with talent and I was playing behind a couple of guys that were 6-foot-8,” Ngawaka said. “I knew I was never going to get the minutes I wanted.”
Brinson made a commitment to come back his senior year and to be better and lead a team that would return only three players, as Sergej Pucar (Belgrade, Serbia/Business administration) and Stefan Tica (Belgrade, Serbia/Business administration) were the only others retained by head coach Mick Durham.
Ngawaka sought a new home and one of the few to actually pick up the phone was Alaska. He not only brought himself here but also his wife Heather up to Interior Alaska for one final season of collegiate hoops. Durham completely revamped the program and along with Ngawaka were 10 other newcomers to make up this past season's roster.
Picked eighth in the GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, no one outside of the team knew what they were about to get with the newest-looking squad in one of the toughest leagues in the country. In the season opening win against Colorado State-Pueblo, Brinson scored 20 points while Ngawaka posted a double-double with 12 points and a season-best 16 rebounds and made a crucial block in the closing seconds of regulation to force overtime.
A week later, the Nanooks captured the GCI Alaska Invitational team title with three convincing victories to get off to a 4-1 start. Jumping ahead to conference play, after falling in the GNAC opener to nationally-ranked Seattle Pacific, the 'Nooks downed Montana State Billings at home for GNAC win No. 1 – and there were plenty more victories to be had.
Following winter break, a rare road sweep at Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington gave way for Alaska being honored by the conference with player and team of the week awards. The Nanooks started 5-1 in the GNAC and were the talk of the league but three straight defeats on the road put Alaska at 5-4 at the halfway point – still in fourth and a surprise to everyone besides the team.
Three wins in the next four allowed for Alaska to sit at 8-5 in conference play and after a second straight loss in season to rival Alaska Anchorage, the defending national champions, Western Washington, came to town on Feb. 21 for a game no Nanook will ever forget.
The Vikings, ranked second in the country at the time, were riding a nation's-best 30-game win streak and Western probably figured this would be the 31st in a row. Little did the Vikings nor anyone else in the gym that night know that Alaska had something different in mind. A hot start for the Nanooks, due in large part to consistent perimeter shooting and WWU's inability to find a rhythm offensively, put Alaska up early.
WWU closed the gap and took a brief lead but the 'Nooks answered back and as it went down to the wire in the second half, Brinson made a huge three pointer, the team made its free throws and the champs were stunned by Alaska, thus ending the streak.
“It was a huge win,” Ngawaka said. “It's something I'll always remember as one of my highlights in my career. Everyone knew how good they were. That night we beat them, it showed anyone can beat anybody on any given night. It was one of those nights everyone got off to a great start. The refs let a lot go so we could play very physical and I think that suits us because we're a tough defensive team. It was a memorable night, my parents were there watching and they loved it and it's a night you'll never forget.”
The other neat aspect of that night was that Brinson's mom, who lives in Juneau, saw Dom play for the first time live on the college hardwood while Ngawaka's parents made the long trek up to Fairbanks from Australia to see Zach in his final two home games.
“I was glad my mom was there because she doesn't get to travel much having to work as a single mother,” Brinson said. “It was a special night for me. To compete with those guys says a lot about our team. Western could blow people out by 30 or 40 so to come out with that win is something I can't explain.”
“My parents haven't been able to see too many of my college games,” Ngawaka said. “They tune into the live broadcast but that's the extent of it. To travel all this way, this is a pretty huge ordeal. Knowing they've supported me my whole life with practices every night, game every weekend, paying for me to be a part of clubs and to travel, for them to be there right at the end just as they were at the beginning is pretty special. I'm definitely grateful for that.”
Durham's Nanooks entered the GNAC Championship for the first time in program history as the No. 4 seed after finishing 15-11 in the regular season with a 10-8 record in conference action. Arguably its best performance of the season, Alaska was a fraction-of-a-percent off the best shooting percentage in tournament history as the Nanooks cruised to an 87-73 quarterfinal win over fifth-seeded MSU Billings. The following night, the season ended at the hands of Western, which would eventually advance to the Division II Final Four a couple weeks later.
“It was very special to have a winning record my senior year,” Brinson said of the team's 16-12 season. “We wanted to bring the program back to what it used to be by winning, making the GNAC tournament and it was just a fun experience to be a part of.”
Looking back on the season that was, Brinson was the veteran leader on this team and his team-best 12.4 points per game put him on the All-GNAC Second Team, along with Pucar. Pat Voeut (Bellingham, Wash./Communication) was also tabbed as an Honorable Mention selection. Durham was honored as GNAC Co-Coach of the Year after guiding Alaska to one of the wildest turnarounds this year across college basketball.
“My goal was to be up there with the top players in the conference,” Brinson said. “To be considered with the best players the GNAC is a great honor because there are a lot of great players in this league. It's a lot on my team, they helped me get there in how we prepared and practiced as a team.”
For Ngawaka, this was his final chance to play, to lead and to win – he did just that – and he stated this year was not a failure despite not making the NCAA tournament like the entire team strived for all year, but rather a huge success. And anyone that knows Zach would see it as no surprise that he was grateful for the chance to come be a Nanook for his final go-round.
“To be able to come here and play under Coach Durham, be a starter, play significant minutes and have a significant role on the team, it was how I wanted to finish my basketball career,” Ngawaka said. “It was nice we could put together a good season with a whole bunch of new guys.”
Brinson was happy to play back in his home state and it is something he will hold near and dear to his heart for many years to come.
“I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to come back Alaska to play,” Brinson said. “I saw Alaska on my chest every game and I knew this is where I was born and raised. It's cool to play for a coach who knows so much and who can make players better when they come here. I was grateful to play here and to play in one of the best leagues in Division II.”
It's not often basketball fans get to see this type of resurgence, going from the bottom of a league to being one of the premier teams in just one season. This year was special; it showed the rest of the GNAC that Alaska is back and that next year, as it will return the bulk of this year's team, the rest of the conference better watch out because the Nanooks will be ready to roar come November.