FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 4, 2020) – It is a new year, and Saturday's 72-64 victory over Weber State was just the latest example that this is not your same old Northern Arizona men's basketball team. The Lumberjacks pulled away late from the Wildcats – picked in the top three of the preseason league polls – to earn their first win over the perennial conference contenders in five years in their Walkup Skydome opener.
The victory was NAU's first against Weber State since Feb. 14, 2015. The Lumberjacks also snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Wildcats on their home floor, notching their first win in the all-time series since Feb. 28, 2008.
"The game went back and forth and (Weber State) scored the first seven points of the second half," said interim head coach
Shane Burcar. "Our guys didn't flinch and I don't think we could've played any better in the last two and a half minutes to execute and finish out a ball game. I'm really happy for this university and this team."
The Lumberjacks (7-5, 1-2 Big Sky) had their offense clicking all game, finishing their conference home opener shooting 57.1 percent overall. NAU also shot 56.3 percent from long distance in addition to outrebounding Weber State by a 31-21 margin.
Four players led by junior
Brooks DeBisschop's career-high 18 points scored in double-figures. DeBisschop was a perfect 8-for-8 from the floor in just 24 minutes off the bench. Junior
Cameron Satterwhite also posted his best game as a Lumberjack, registering a career-high 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Satterwhite nailed three of NAU's nine treys, including one with 3:55 remaining to swing the score in the Lumberjacks' favor for good.
Sophomores
Nik Mains (13) and
Cameron Shelton (11) also reach double-digits in the scoring column as NAU claimed its first conference win of the season. Shelton also totaled team-highs of eight rebounds and seven assists. Mains' 13 points matched a season-high.
After losing second half leads at Pepperdine and Montana in the last two weeks, NAU did not let a hot start and a halftime lead slip versus Weber State. The Lumberjacks got out to a 6-0 lead and led by as much as 12 at 26-14 on a three-pointer by senior
Ted McCree with 7:45 left in the first half before seeing their eventual halftime advantage sliced in half to 36-30. Mains led the Lumberjacks with 11 points at the intermission.
After leading the entirety of the first half, NAU fell behind immediately with a quick 7-0 Weber State burst that gave the Wildcats their first lead, 37-36, less than two minutes into the second half. As quick as Weber State took the lead, NAU settled back in and led 54-49 following a Satterwhite triple just under the midway point of the half.
The Wildcats once again answered with a 10-2 run to take a 59-56 advantage before Shelton tied it for the fifth time with a three of his own. After Weber State followed with a bucket on the next possession, Satterwhite drained yet another trey to exchange the lead for the final time with 4:41 to go at 62-61.
All in all, NAU closed out the game with a 13-3 run starting with Satterwhite's triple by knocking down four of its last five shots and all four free throws in the last five minutes.
"We've talked a lot about getting a lead and keeping it versus letting up and letting the other team back in the game," DeBisschop said. "It comes down to toughness and grit and coming together as a unit and not accepting a loss."
NAU faces a split week ahead with a road game at Sacramento State next Thursday at 8 p.m. MST before returning to the Skydome next Saturday versus Idaho State at 4 p.m. MST.
