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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Scott Greenham was patient and studious while he was on the bench for the first 15 Central Collegiate Hockey Association games this season for the Alaska Nanooks.

The freshman goaltender’s dilligence paid off Saturday night in a 3-1 victory for the 18th-ranked Nanooks over the Michigan State Spartans for a split of the series at the Munn Ice Arena.

Greenham registered 31 saves to help the Nanooks move into sole possession of third place at 8-5-3-2 CCHA and 10-6-4 overall, and in the 29 years of varsity hockey for the University of Alaska Fairbanks, he became its first goaltender to win his first three starts.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder from Addison, Ontario, was supported in his first CCHA start by two goals from sophomore center Derek Klassen, a power-play marker from freshman defenseman Joe Sova, two assists from sophomore left wing Kevin Petovello, and individual helpers from senior right wing Braden Walls, sophomore defenseman Bryant Molle and freshman defenseman Cody Butcher.

Alaska matched its conference win total from last season and is the only CCHA team so far this season to get at least two points in each of its conference series.

The victory also was a welcome relief from Friday’s 2-1 loss, in which Michigan State rallied for two goals in the last 3:35 of the game. On Saturday, the Nanooks scored twice in the third to take the lead and hold on to it.

“The way we played today was a total 180 from the last five minutes last night,” Sova said. “Tonight, we played the game hard to the very end.”

Until Saturday, Greenham had not played since the first two weeks of the season. He backstopped 5-0 wins over Connecticut in the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage on Oct. 11 and over Mercyhurst on Oct. 17 in the Brice Alaska Goal Rush at the Carlson Center.

Nanooks head coach Dallas Ferguson decided earlier Saturday to give a break to Chad Johnson, the CCHA leader for saves percentage (.940) and goals against average (1.62) in overall games, after the senior had started for 16 straight games, including every conference game before Saturday’s series finale against the ninth-place Spartans (3-9-2-2, 6-13-3).

“Being a freshman and being behind someone like Chad, you just have to sit there, wait your turn and just take in what you can,” said Greenham, “because you can learn a lot from a guy like Chad Johnson.”

Greenham also learned from watching CCHA opponents after experiencing Atlantic Hockey Association teams in the two tournaments in the 49th state.

“Every game that Chad started, I prepared like I was going to start, too, just in case I did have to go in,” Greenham said. “Getting prepared for this game, I stayed the same, and I just took the first period to get all the jitters out and get back to my game that I had played at the beginning of the year.”

The only thing different from Saturday’s contest and his first two starts was he allowed a goal, ending 154 minutes, 5 seconds of stinginess.

Michigan State converted its second power-play opportunity of the weekend and tied the game 1-1 at 14:55 of the second period, as freshman right wing Andrew Conboy redirected in senior center Tim Crowder’s shot from the top of the right circle.

“I saw the guy (Crowder) wind up and I think there was like two or three guys in front of me,” Greenham said. “I saw the shot kind of going to my left a little bit and I tried to make myself as big as possible, but it just happened to hit their guy’s (Conboy’s) glove and take a weird bounce.”

At 13:18 of the second, the Nanooks had taken a 1-0 lead for the second straight night. Klassen, parked at the top of the right circle, retrieved a rebound of Meyers’ shot from the low slot and spun with the puck to deliver a wrist shot that beat Spartans goaltender Jeff Lerg low into the left corner of the net.

“It just kind of jumped out to my right and I just spun around, and I think it might have gone off his (Lerg) skate,” Klassen said. “It was definitely a much-needed goal.”

So was Sova’s go-ahead tally at 4:55 of the third, snapping the tie and ending Alaska’s 0-for-17 skid on the power play in three games. The freshman defenseman, assisted by Butcher and Walls, uncorked a blast from the top of the slot that cleared a screen and beat Lerg on the glove side.

Klassen provided the game-sealing goal and his second of the night at 14:28 of the third. Petovello won a battle for the puck on the boards and chipped the pass to Klassen, who carried it along the left wing before whipping a wrist shot that Lerg stretched to deflect, but the puck instead skipped through his pads.

“They play well with the lead and with that (defensive) style,” Spartans head coach Rick Comley said. “A lot of our guys worked hard, but we need a couple guys to step up. We can’t continue to score just one goal a game.”

Before Saturday, the Spartans ranked last in the CCHA for offense, averaging 1.62 goals per game, while the Nanooks ranked eighth (2.26).