MOSCOW, Idaho (December 31, 2020) – A mid-second half surge broke open a tied game and the Northern Arizona men's basketball broke free from Idaho on their way to a 78-65 New Year's Eve victory. The Lumberjacks (2-6, 1-1 Big Sky) notched their first Big Sky victory of the season and spoiled Idaho's home opener in the process with a crucial road win to start the weekend.
"I thought we played decent in the first half, and from the 13-minute mark to the five-minute mark (of the second half), we played NAU basketball," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "We got stops and that's how we want to play."
After redshirt junior
Luke Avdalovic gave the 'Jacks their largest lead of the game, 40-34, with one of his season-best four threes with 16:41 to play, the Vandals rallied to tie the game at 42-42 and then once more at 45-45.
It was there that NAU broke open the game beginning with a dunk by sophomore
Ajang Aguek with 12:25 remaining. Redshirt sophomore
Keith Haymon followed with a three and Avdalovic connected on a jumper during a seven-point Lumberjack surge in a minute's span.
The 7-0 run was part of a larger 24-6 spurt capped by another Aguek bucket that pushed NAU's lead out to 69-51 with under seven minutes left. Idaho (0-6, 0-3 Big Sky) managed to close the gap with a 10-0 run itself to 69-61 with 3:28 remaining, but junior
Cameron Shelton iced the game with seven freebies the rest of the way.
On the final night of 2020, Shelton – appropriately No. 20 – posted his fifth straight 20-point game, finishing with 24 points. Shelton also led the team with seven rebounds and seven assists – the latter being a season-best – and turned the ball over just two times.
With Shelton doing his usual damage, the Lumberjacks lit up Memorial Gym like the New Year's Eve fireworks behind the arc in a season-best performance. NAU shot 42.9 percent from three-point range and Avdalovic (4) and Haymon (3) combined for seven of the Lumberjacks' season-high nine treys.
"Our magic number is 39.9 percent, and we did a better job with that in the second half," said Burcar about Idaho's 38.7 second half field goal percentage. "That's why we can go out and have some fun; play aggressively and pass the ball and knock down shots. Keith and Luke are better players in the open court."
Avdalovic was 4-of-6 from long distance, and 6-for-9 overall, while netting a season-high 17 points. Haymon tied a career-high with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting behind the arc. Aguek also chipped in a season-high eight points off the bench – a total matched by redshirt junior
Jay Green.
Idaho led for the majority of the first half, jumping out to a 14-7 lead eight minutes into the game and holding that advantage until consecutive layups by Green and redshirt freshman
Carson Towt provided NAU with its first lead of the game, 26-25, with 5:18 left in the first half.
The Lumberjacks wound up claiming their first halftime lead of the season, 33-32, following a dunk by redshirt junior
Nik Mains – accounting for the seventh lead change down the stretch of the first period.
Idaho remained in the game despite eight first half turnovers due to 52.2 percent shooting. In the second half though, the Vandals shot just 38.7 percent. For the game, Idaho shot 44.4 percent, which is a season-low by an NAU opponent.
NAU outshot Idaho with a final clip of 46 percent, including 53.6 percent in the second period, and held significant advantages in the paint (32-20) and off turnovers (15-8). The Lumberjacks turned the ball over a season-best tying six times compared to 15 Vandal miscues.
The 'Jacks will aim to complete the sweep of the Vandals for the third consecutive season on Saturday at 12 p.m. MST.
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