MOSCOW, Idaho (February 20, 2020) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team went wire-to-wire and took care of business with a 78-61 victory in the Cowan Spectrum over Idaho Thursday night. Senior
Brooks DeBisschop and junior
Bernie Andre each posted double-double performances as the Lumberjacks moved up to fourth in the conference standings with the victory.
The Lumberjacks increased their record to 15-10 overall and 9-7 in conference play – a half game ahead of Montana State for fourth in the Big Sky currently. The 15 victories also match the program's total from the past two seasons combined.
NAU was particularly impressive in two phases of the game – passing and defense. The Lumberjacks totaled 21 assists, their second-highest total this season, on 31 field goal makes. DeBisschop tied a career-high with six dimes and was tied for the team-lead with sophomore
Cameron Shelton, who also recorded six assists to go along with a career-high five steals. Junior
Cameron Satterwhite also tallied a career-high five assists.
The Lumberjacks also clamped down defensively on the Vandals' Trevon Allen, who entered Thursday's contest ranked 15th in the country with 21.2 points per game. Allen was held to just seven points on 2-for-8 shooting from the field.
"We want to be a team that shares the basketball," said interim head coach
Shane Burcar. "We were active defensively and had 10 steals and forced 16 turnovers. We came in here to take care of business and take the next step. We got a road conference win and now we travel to Eastern Washington to go get another one."
Andre registered 19 points and 13 rebounds, while DeBisschop recorded 13 points and 13 rebounds. Between the two players, they tallied nine offensive boards which helped NAU to a plus-11 advantage in second chance points.
Sophomore
Luke Avdalovic opened the game with a three-pointer and NAU never trailed in its first wire-to-wire victory against a Division I opponent this season. Sophomore
Nik Mains, who scored nine points off the bench, sparked NAU with a layup, then a steal and two free throws, which prompted a 17-3 run that opened up NAU's lead to 32-14 with 4:33 remaining before the half. During this Lumberjack run that spanned almost seven full minutes, the Vandals made just one field goal and they committed four turnovers.
NAU shot 48.4 percent in the first half with Andre scoring 11 of his 19 points before halftime, where the 'Jacks led 43-27.
A DeBisschop dunk with 13:32 left in the game gave the Lumberjacks their largest lead, 60-35, and their lead did not dip lower than the final 17-point margin the remainder of the game. DeBisschop made five of his six shot attempts in the second half and led NAU with 10 second half points.
The Lumberjacks nearly swept the specialty categories with advantages in points off turnovers (24-15), points in the paint (42-22) and fast break points (12-2) in addition to their edge on second chance opportunities.
NAU finished the evening at a 47 percent field goal clip, while Idaho shot 40.7 percent. The 'Jacks outrebounded the Vandals by one, 38-37, and picked up 10 steals for the fourth time this season.
Along with Andre and DeBisschop, Avdalovic also reached double-figures with 13 points. Avdalovic was accountable for three of NAU's nine three-pointers on the night. Satterwhite and Mains both narrowly missed double-digits with nine points apiece.
The Lumberjacks will face Eastern Washington, currently tied for second in the conference, on Saturday in Cheney, Wash. at 3 p.m. MST.
