FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern Arizona (2-10, 0-1 BSC) and Montana (6-6, 1-0 BSC) put on a show at the Walkup Skydome in the first game of Big Sky play for the conference. On New Year's Eve, the two teams battled for 50 minutes going into double overtime with the Griz coming away with the 90-84 victory.

"I thought we did a good job battling," said head coach Jack Murphy. "We played hard and we played well. We didn't shoot free throws as well as we have been and that's probably what cost us the game. As a team we defended well for a majority of the game, but we weren't able to pull it out."

NAU controlled the clock in the first half resulting in in an eight-point lead with less than three minutes remaining in the half. The Griz were able to inch their way back and with a made bucket with 1:28 to go, both teams entered the half tied up at 31-All.

The second half box was fairly neck in neck. While the Lumberjacks scored 12 points in the paint, the Griz netted nine three-pointers to heighten their outside presence. The Griz' turnovers and NAU's ability to control the ball led to Kris Yanku hitting a long range three-pointer with seven seconds to go to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Freshman Felix Rivera-Vega hit a trey to get the overtime period started, but UM responded with a layup in the paint. NAU hit three of four free throws after a Montana bench technical foul and a personal foul were assessed. NAU trailed 75-74 before freshman Marcus DeBerry connected from downtown to give NAU the 77-75 edge. Martin Breunig caught the inbounds pass for Montana underneath the basket and laid it right in for the game-tying score to send the game into double overtime.

With the crowd on their feet, the second overtime period was ready to rock and roll. The Griz rattled off nine unanswered points until junior Ako Kaluna recorded a layup with 2:29 to go. Yanku scored NAU's next three points to trim the Griz' lead to 86-82 with 1:07 remaining in the game. From there, Montana scored its final four points from the free throw line to knock off NAU 90-84 at the Walkup Skydome this afternoon.

"Today we showed that we can compete with anyone in the conference," said Yanku. "I think the younger guys improved so much today. We just have to finish out games and get that win."

Yanku registered 23 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. DeBerry hit five three-pointers on the day to finish with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Kaluna chipped in 17 points, six boards, and five assists, while River-Vega tallied 11 points and four rebounds.

Montana was led by sharp shooter Brandon Gfeller, who led all players with 24 points, including eight made three-pointers.

NAU continues its Big Sky home opening weekend on Saturday with a match-up versus Montana State. Tip-off versus the Bobcats is slated for noon at the Walkup Skydome.

Notes: Freshman forward Felix Rivera-Vega made his first career start…NAU shot 39.7 percent from the floor, 40 percent from three-point range, and 58.3 percent from the free throw line…Montana shot 45.2 percent from the field, 54.5 percent from long range, and 76.2 percent from the charity stripe...Today was the second double overtime game for NAU this season.