GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Arizona took Northern Colorado down to the buzzer, but the Bears escaped with the 76-74 victory at the Bank of Colorado Arena. The Lumberjacks were led by sophomore guard Kris Yanku who finished with 20 points, six assists and six rebounds.

"We didn't do what we needed to tonight on defense," said head coach JackMurphy. "That's unfortunate because we had been doing well. You can't give up that many second chance points and expect to come away with the win. We return home after this to close out the last two games of the regular season, so we have to get on the right page if we plan to win games."

NAU (16-13, 11-5 Big Sky) had a chance to tie the game with 1.5 seconds left to go in the game when Ako Kaluna was fouled at half court, sending the big man to the line to shoot three. Kaluna missed the first one, made the second one, and then intentionally missed the third one. The Bears boxed out NAU, got the rebound, and captured the win at home.

The first half was a little too close for comfort for NAU. The Lumberjacks scored first, went on a 9-0 run midway through the half, but due to some persistence by the home team NAU entered the locker room with a two-point lead. Six different players assisted in NAU's scoring efforts in the half, led by Yanku's eight points.

There wasn't much offense to start the second half, but a spinning layup by Yanku gave NAU a 39-38 lead. The Bears then went on a 9-0 run, riding the momentum of the crowd.

NAU used the free throw line to work its way back into it, and after made buckets by Jordyn Martin and Yanku the Lumberjacks were within two points at 49-47.

The final 12 minutes NAU used every way possible to put points on the board and that's how it was able to edge its way back into the game. NAU led by as many as seven points and the Bears led by as many as six points. There were 13 lead changes and 14 ties, as UNC came away with the win tonight.

Quinton Upshur hit a trio of three-pointers to finish with 13 points, Martin registered with 12 points and four rebounds, Kaluna tallied 11 points and Aaseem Dixon added 10 points.

Tevin Svihovec led the Bears (14-14, 9-8 Big Sky) with 20 points. Tim Huskisson added 18 points and seven rebounds. UNC shot 47.5 percent from the floor and managed 20 second chance points with only five trunovers.

Notes: Double figure scoring games   Quinton Upshur (23), Kris Yanku (22), Aaseem Dixon (19), Ako Kaluna (14), Jordyn Martin (7)…Gaellan Bewernick's appearance tonight made him the all-time leader in games played in school history with 120...NAU hasn't won in Greeley since on Dec. 3, 2006 (88-78)…The Bears tallied 17 points off turnovers and 35 from its bench.