MISSOULA, Mont. – Montana shot 70 percent from the field in the second half and that was enough to defeat the visiting Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 85-67 at Dahlberg Arena tonight. Junior guard Kris Yanku posted his second straight 20-point game to lead the NAU offense, as the Lumberjacks fell to 4-20, 2-11 in Big Sky play.

"We wanted to come out playing hard and with intensity," said head coach Jack Murphy. "We had opportunities throughout the night and we just couldn't get over the hump. One thing we needed to do better tonight was rebounding. We had the effort, but Montana was still able to come out on top in that area. Our free throws tonight were better and that's an area that we consider our strong suit. All in all, we competed hard for 40 minutes, but as a coach you want to win every game and we fell short tonight."

Montana's 37-28 halftime lead was mostly due to its ability to box out at the right time. The Griz managed to get 20 of their points in the paint, while picking up 13 second chance points. This alone led to Montana taking a nine-point lead into halftime; its biggest margin of the half.

NAU's offense was steered by Yanku and freshman guard Mike Green. In the first half, Green connected on 4 of 5 shots and 3 of 4 from three-point range to showcase his skills. Yanku made both of his free throw attempts, while knocking down a pair of treys for his other six points.

Both teams attempted 24 shots in the second half. It was the Griz that connected on 17 of those to shoot 70.8 percent from the field in the half. Montana outscored NAU 48 to 39 in the period and when you mix with that a solid defensive presence under the basket, it's hard to come back from nine down at the half.

Green recorded 15 points tonight to round out the double digit scorers for NAU, but junior forward Ako Kaluna produced nine points and six rebounds to lead the big men. As a team, NAU shot 43.8 percent (21 of 48) from the floor, 50 percent (9 of 18) from three-point land, and 80 percent (16 of 20) from the charity stripe.

Martin Breunig was in beast mode for the Griz. He had 16 points in the first half and continued to dominate for Montana in the second half finishing with a double-double of 29 points and 12 rebounds. Breunig's high percentage shooting led the conference leaders to their third straight win. The Griz finished the night shooting 57.1 percent (32 of 56) from the floor and 33.3 percent (6 of 18) from three-point range. Montana made 15 of 18 free throws for 83.3 percent to close out the night. The Griz improved to 16-8, 11-2 in Big Sky play with the victory tonight.

NAU returns to Flagstaff for a three-game home stand to close out regular season play in the Walkup Skydome before hitting the road for its final two league games. The Lumberjacks host Idaho State (Feb. 18), Weber State (Feb. 20), and Southern Utah (Feb. 27).

Notes: Kris Yanku recorded his second straight 20-point game…For the second consecutive outing, Yanku and Mike Green were NAU's top scorers…The loss was the third straight for NAU in Missoula…NAU averages 12.2 assists per game; tonight it tallied nine.