After flying high against the Nuniwarmiut Herders on Friday, the Nelson Island Islanders came back down to earth. Nelson Island fell 79-71 to Chaputnguak on Saturday. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Nelson Island's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Brennan Lincoln, who scored 26 points. Lincoln has been hot recently, having posted 26 or more points the last three times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Johnny Nicholai, who scored 18 points.
Chaputnguak was led to victory by Felagai Laumea and Ashton Matthew. Laumea scored 25 points, while Matthew scored 29 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Matthew has scored all season. Another player making a difference was Robert Jimmy II, who scored 12 points.
Nelson Island's defeat dropped their record down to 13-6. As for Chaputnguak, the win (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 7-7.
Nelson Island does not have any more games scheduled as of now. Chaputnguak is on the road again on Saturday and plays Akula Elitnaurvik at 3:30 p.m. on February 10th. Chaputnguak knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past three matches -- so hopefully Akula Elitnaurvik likes a good challenge.
