FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – To kick of their final home stand of the regular season, the Northern Arizona men's basketball team squared off against Portland State. Senior guard Gaellan Bewernick had his second double-double of the season as NAU defeated the Vikings 58-51.

"I'm glad we found ways to get it done and finish them off," said Head Coach Jack Murphy. "Portland State is a tough team. We've talked about it time and time again—any team in this league can beat any other team on any given night. Portland State came in here ready to play, and they're going to give someone trouble next week in the Big Sky Tournament."

It was a defensive battle in the first five minutes of action as both teams shot a combined 3-for-14 from the field. Foul trouble plagued the Lumberjacks early on with Ako Kaluna and Bewernick picking up two quick fouls each as they had to sit on the bench most of the first half.

Aaseem Dixon led the charge for Northern Arizona in the first 20 minutes as the vocal point for the Lumberjacks' offense with nine points, five rebounds and an assist. Jordyn Martin was all over the glass for the Lumberjacks pulling down eight rebounds in the first half. NAU held Portland State to just 23 points, the lowest amount the Vikings has scored in a first half this season since Dec. 18 against San Francisco.

In the first 21 minutes of play, Martin tied his career-high in rebounds with 10 and would set a new personal best with 14 rebounds. NAU went on an 8-0 run midway through the second half to take a 36-33 lead with 13:07 left in the game.

Portland State retook the lead with 6:18 left in the game off a three-pointer from Tim Douglas to put PSU up by one but with a Kris Yanku layup to tie the game and a Bewernick layup it gave NAU the 47-45 advantage with 4:03 left in the game. The Lumberjacks extended their lead to seven off a layup from Martin, putting the 'Jacks up 54-47 with 2:16 left in the game. NAU would never trail for the rest of the game.

"We knew that they had had some big wins on the road, so we knew we had to protect our home court. "The big thing this week was getting back on defense and I think that's what we did today. By us sticking together that's what led us to the win today. We had to believe in each other today in order to get this win."

When the Vikings were able to get to glass, Len Springs was there to prevent made shots tying his career high of six blocked shots, giving him 105 blocks for his career.

DaShaun Wiggins led the Vikings with 15 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Portland State shot 35.7 percent from the floor and 66.7 percent from the free throw line.

NAU dominated PSU on the boards 55-32 as it swept the season series en route to its fifth straight win over the Vikings.

Double figure scoring games: Kris Yanku (23), Aaseem Dixon (20), Gaellan Bewernick (3)...Second double-double of the season for Bewernick...Gaellan Bewernick, NAU's all-time career games played leader increased his total to 121...Jordyn Martin recorded a career high 14 rebounds...Len Springs had three blocked shots in the first seven minutes to finish with six tying his career single game high...