Former teammates reunite nearly 4,000 miles from home at Shootout

Two former teammates had an unlikely reunion Saturday at the GCI Great Alaska Shootout, nearly 4,000 miles from their home country of Norway.

Sophomore forward Sjur Berg of UAA and freshman forward Johannes Dolven of Drake, both from Oslo, met in the Shootout's seventh-place game at the Alaska Airlines Center three years after last playing together on Norway's U18 national team.

"He's one of my best friends from Norway because we played (on the) national teams for like six years together, and he lived like five minutes away from me," Berg said. "We practiced like everyday together.

"It's really cool to see him again, and that it was in Alaska made it even cooler."

Neither player tallied much time on the court in UAA's 74-69 win. Berg grabbed one rebound in seven minutes and Dolven went 0 of 1 in five minutes.

Before the game, they chatted and took a picture together.

"… When I knew he was going to America for (his senior year of) high school, I never thought I was going to play against him anymore," Dolven said. "When I knew we were going here, it was crazy that I could maybe play against him. That happened, and it's unbelievable."

Berg and Dolven first played against each other on opposing club teams when they were 12 or 13 years old, Berg said. They were two of the best players on two of the better club teams in Norway, so a little rivalry developed.

That all changed when they joined forces on the U16 and U18 Norwegian national teams.

"We were really good friends, played really good together, especially (in the FIBA) European championship in Romania (in 2013)," Dolven said. "That's when we really started getting close."

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Berg and Dolven, both feisty rebounders for their size, finished second and third in rebounding in the 22-team U18 FIBA European championships. The 6-foot-7 Berg finished the tournament with 82 rebounds and the 6-foot-8 Dolven grabbed 81.

Who's the better player? Berg said it's a tossup.

"I used to be better, but he got better over the years," Berg said. "I think we're kind of tied — the same level, I would say."

"I tried to learn from him. He has nice moves down low in the low post."

Berg said there are about 12 Norwegians playing college basketball in the United States and three of them are in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Guards Marko Lepovic and Bouna N'Diaye play for Northwest Nazarene.

"Basketball isn't big in Norway, so you kind of know who everyone is," Berg said.