RIVERSIDE, Calif. (December 19, 2019) – The Northern Arizona University men's basketball team held off UC Riverside in a tight defensive game that saw the Lumberjacks pick up a 63-56 win at the SRC Arena on Thursday night. NAU scored 19 points off of 15 UC Riverside turnovers with 12 of them coming in the first half to raise the 'Jacks to 6-2 overall for the season.
Three Lumberjacks scored in double-digits as the squad shot for 41.2 percent on the night, nailing six three-pointers in the contest. Despite eight lead changes throughout the game NAU picked up the defensive effort when it counted most late.
Sophomore
Cameron Shelton led the way for the Lumberjacks scoring 15 points that was complimented by eight rebounds and three assists. This was the eighth straight game that Shelton scored double-digits. Senior
Ted McCree started the game off hot with four-straight made baskets and ended the night with 14 total points. It was also the third consecutive game in which McCree had a double-digit scoring effort.
The Lumberjack front court pair of sophomore
Nik Mains and senior
Brooks DeBisschop raked in 11 rebounds and contributed 21 points towards the NAU victory. Mains nailed four three-pointers to account for his 12 total points scored, while DeBisschop grabbed seven rebounds.
"We have done some good things from the standpoint that we are off to a good start," said interim head coach Shane Buracr. "We work hard daily and that is all that we can control."
NAU held the lead for nearly 32 minutes into the game and committed only 11 turnovers compared to the Highlanders' 15. The 'Jacks recorded eight steals throughout the game and were led by a pair of underclassmen in sophomore
Cameron Satterwhite and freshman
Isaiah Lewis each of whom picked off two steals.
Mains drilled the first three of the game to go along with McCree's first two made baskets to put the 'Jacks up 7-3 early in the first half at the 17:25 mark. NAU would drop the lead with just 5:31 left in the first after UC Riverside senior Dikymbe Martin drained a three. It would be a back and forth contest leading up to the half with the Lumberjacks heading to the locker room down 24-23.
NAU quickly regained the lead less than a minute into the second half after Satterwhite converted a layup to put the score at 25-24. Both sides would hold on to narrow leads until things got tied up at the 10:05 mark after Shelton was fouled on a made layup to put the game at 40-40.
Shelton swished his shot from the line and from that point forward the Highlanders would not regain the lead again before the sound of the final buzzer. UC Riverside would keep things close never falling behind more than six points until NAU went on a 10-0 run that started at the 2:40 point after Shelton was fouled again and successfully made both shots from the charity stripe.
NAU's defense sealed the victory for the 'Jacks late as they forced the Highlanders to convert only one of their final nine three-point attempts. The Highlanders fouled the 'Jacks two more times in an attempt to get the ball back late but Satterwhite and McCree had ice in their veins as neither missed to end the game at 63-56 in favor of NAU.
"We have one more non-conference game," concluded Burcar. "We are going to take care of business on Saturday against Pepperdine. Then we have 20 Big Sky games and then hopefully two-to-three more in Boise to earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament."
NAU will conclude its two-game road tour on Saturday, Dec. 21 with an afternoon tip-off at 2 P.M. (MST) against the Waves of Pepperdine University to close out the non-conference campaign.
