FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Dec. 29, 2018) – Sophomore
Carlos Hines finished with 22 points to lead the Northern Arizona men's basketball team in an 86-73 loss to Montana in the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome.
NAU came out strong as it connected on 9-of-15 shots from beyond the arc in the opening half to build a nine-point lead at 41-32 before the Grizzlies put together an 8-0 run over the final 1:45 before the break to trim the Lumberjacks' advantage to 41-40 at intermission.
The Lumberjacks managed to hold its lead for the majority of the initial three minutes of the second half, building the advantage to as many as three points in that span, but Montana took control from that point eventually moving ahead by a 51-50 margin with 15:32 left in regulation and would never trail again as it outscored the 'Jacks 46-32 in the second half.
Montana made 18-of-31 shots from the field in the final 20 minutes for a 58.1 clip from the field to spur itself to the victory. Defensively, the Grizzlies limited NAU to just a 32.3 field goal percentage (10-of-31) in the final half.
"Championship teams make those kind of runs," NAU head coach
Jack Murphy said. "You have to able to absorb them and get stops, we didn't do that. I thought the key for us was to take away the paint, they are a really good points in the paint team and in the first half they scored 10 and in the second half they scored 30."
Montana finished the game with a 40-20 advantage in the lane and were led by a quartet of players who finished with double-digit scoring efforts, led by Ahmaad Rorie, who posted a game-high 24 on 10-of-16 shooting from the field. Jamar Akoh netted 22, while Michael Oguine and Bobby Morehead each tabbed 11.
Joining Hines in double-figures for the 'Jacks was junior
Ted McCree who notched 14.
Bernie Andre paced NAU on the boards with nine rebounds.
Brooks DeBisschop added nine points, five rebounds and three blocks.
The loss extended the Lumberjacks' current losing streak to eight consecutive games and dropped their overall record to 2-9 and 0-1 in Big Sky play. Montana moved to 8-4 with the victory and 1-0 in league action.
The Lumberjacks will close out the current homestand on Monday, Dec. 31 when it hosts Montana State at the Skydome. Tip time is slated for 12 p.m. MST.
The 'Jacks-Bobcats contest will be televised live on Pluto TV (Channel 239). It can also be heard on the Lumberjacks Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 11:30 a.m. MST.
