FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team (7-10, 2-2 Big Sky) looked to extend its winning streak in the Big Sky to three as they hosted the defending Big Sky Champions Weber State (8-8, 3-2 Big Sky). Sophomore guard Kris Yanku scored a season-high 27 points, but the Lumberjacks dropped their first Big Sky home game of the season to the Wildcats 74-65.

"You have to hand it to Coach (Randy) Rahe and his ball club, they're a very good shooting team; not only from the foul line but the three-point line," said head coach Jack Murphy. "My players battled and fought hard to the end tonight. In order for us to win games, we need to win as a team. We were unable to have a full team effort tonight and that cost us the game."

It was a defensive battle in the first half that saw four lead changes as the Wildcats went into halftime with a 30-23 lead. Yanku led NAU in the first half with nine points. Both teams made just nine field goals each in the first 20 minutes of play as Ryan Richardson led the Wildcats with eight points. Weber State was able to put NAU in foul trouble as four Lumberjacks ended the first half with two fouls.

The Lumberjacks found success in the paint in the first half as they outscored the Wildcats 14-10 with four points from Ako Kaluna. Weber State came out in the second half extending its lead to 12 points with 14:29 left in the game. NAU responded with a run of its own, scoring 11 in row to cut the Wildcat lead to one.

Weber State's offensive threat came from Joel Bolomboy who scored 14 points along with 12 rebounds and Jeremy Senglin with 25 points, nine from beyond the arc. The Wildcats went 6-10 from the three-point line in the second half that help extend their biggest lead in the second half to 13 with four minutes left in the game.

Yanku tried to keep the Lumberjacks in the game scoring 18 points in the second while pulling down eight rebounds for the game, a team high. NAU shot 84.6 percent (22-for-26) from the free throw line, the third highest for the Lumberjack this season. The Lumberjacks made just five three-pointers in the game shooting 25 percent from long range.

Struggling from three-point range, mixed with just four bench points, NAU dropped its seventh straight loss in Flagstaff to the Wildcats dating back 2009.

"Weber State's really good at defending the three," said Yanku. "They did a good job of defending Aaseem (Dixon) and Que (Upshur) at the three-point line tonight. I was able to get to the basket and I wasn't going to stop until they adjusted. It's a tough loss, but we have to focus on our next game now."

Lumberjacks will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 17, at 4 p.m. at the Skydome against Idaho State.

Notes: Double figure scoring games: Quinton Upshur (13), Kris Yanku (11), Ako Kaluna (8)...Kris Yanku with a season-high 27 points...Aaseem Dixon snapped a nine-game double figure scoring streak, he scored zero points tonight...