OREM, Utah (December 14, 2019) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team received a balanced scoring effort across their lineup on Saturday night in picking up a 79-73 road victory over Utah Valley in the UCCU Center. All five of the Lumberjacks' starters scored in double-figures and NAU had seven players in all score at least eight points to earn its first true road win of the season and improve to 5-2 overall.
Senior
Chris Bowling paced the 'Jacks with a season-high 16 points in an efficient shooting performance as he shot 4-for-7 overall, 3-for-5 from behind the arc and 5-for-6 at the charity stripe. He also recorded a career-best three blocks.
Senior
Ted McCree posted his second consecutive double-digit scoring game with 13 points – 11 coming in the second half in which NAU outscored Utah Valley, 52-47, after going into halftime with a one-point lead. Sophomore
Cameron Shelton extended his double-digit scoring streak to seven games to start the season with 12 points and a game-high seven assists.
The Lumberjacks' frontcourt duo of senior
Brooks DeBisschop and sophomore
Nik Mains each chipped in 10 points. DeBisschop hauled down a season-high 11 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season and added a career-high tying four steals, while Mains registered six boards.
"Utah Valley is a great team, but we had five players with 10 points or more," said interim head coach
Shane Burcar. "When we go on the road, we expect to win basketball games. We don't expect to keep it close and our expectation is to win the game."
NAU outshot Utah Valley, 46.7 percent to 43.1 percent, and the Lumberjacks took advantage of a plus-eight margin in the turnover column. NAU turned 19 Utah Valley turnovers into 19 points, resulting in a plus-15 margin in points off turnovers, which helped NAU offset a 41-30 disadvantage on the glass.
After Mains put in the game's first basket on the opening possession of the game, NAU misfired on its next five attempts from the field and also turned the ball over four times as Utah Valley opened up an 11-4 lead five minutes into the game. Although NAU went six minutes without a field goal, Bowling's first of three treys managed to tie the score at 15-15 with 9:40 left in the first half.
Junior
Cameron Satterwhite, who was one of two Lumberjack reserves along with freshman
Isaiah Lewis with eight points, knocked down a triple to snap a 24-24 tie and provided the Lumberjacks' final points heading into halftime. Behind Satterwhite's team-best seven points in the first half, NAU took a narrow 27-26 lead into the locker room.
The two teams traded runs in the second half beginning with a 7-0 NAU run sparked by a McCree three. DeBisschop followed with consecutive layups to give the 'Jacks a 43-36 lead with 13:38 remaining in the game. However, Utah Valley answered with a 7-0 run itself to tie the score at 43-43 less than three minutes later and the game remained tied at 61-61 with four minutes left.
NAU posted the last run, breaking open the 11th and final tie, scoring nine of the next 11 points beginning with a Bowling layup in transition. By the time Mains drilled a corner three with 1:21 left, NAU led 70-63. The 'Jacks iced the game by making 9-of-12 at the free throw line in the final minute – with Bowling accounting for five of those free throws.
The road victory comes just over a year after Utah Valley handed NAU a 98-78 home loss last season.
"We're a different team than we were last year," DeBisschop said. "We didn't play well in the first half and down the stretch we stepped up big time. Coach (Burcar) believes in us and we got stops and made big shots in big moments."
McCree's 11 points in the second half was just one of four double-figure scoring efforts by the 'Jacks after halftime. DeBisschop, Shelton and Bowling each scored 10 points in NAU's highest scoring half since the third game of the season versus Benedictine Mesa.
NAU will close out the non-conference slate next week with a pair of games in California. The Lumberjacks will take on UC Riverside on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. MST and Pepperdine on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. MST.
