FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 3, 2020) – First-place Eastern Washington put an end to the Northern Arizona men's basketball team's five-game winning streak on Monday, 77-66, in the Walkup Skydome despite a career-high tying 20 points from senior
Brooks DeBisschop. With the loss, NAU falls to 12-8 overall and 6-5 in conference play.
"Eastern Washington is a really good basketball team and there's a reason they're in first-place," said interim head coach
Shane Burcar. "We were hoping to limit their three-point shooting tonight and we obviously didn't do that. It's obvious we have to get tougher and a little smarter. We were up 20-15 and we took some bad shots and that's uncharacteristic for us. It's nothing to lose to much sleep about, but we have to get better tomorrow and get ready for our next game."
DeBisschop led the 'Jacks with a stellar all-around stat line of 20 points, seven rebounds, six assists, four steals and a block. In addition to scoring, he tied career-highs in assists and steals while knocking down a career-best three triples.
Junior
Bernie Andre came off the bench to score 14 points and grab six boards and sophomore
Cameron Shelton tallied his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
NAU went into halftime trailing by just four, 34-30, but Eastern Washington came out by scoring 15 of the first 19 points to increase its advantage to 48-35 just three minutes into the second half. The Lumberjacks were never able to recover as they trailed by at least eight points the remainder of the game.
"To be down 34-30 (at halftime), I thought we were in a good spot because we hadn't played very well," Burcar said. "They came out and went on a run. Credit to them they made shots and we didn't make shots to start the (second) half and you have to get off to a good start."
Facing the nation's fifth-highest scoring offense, the Lumberjacks held the Eagles slightly below their season average of 82.2 points per game. However, Eastern Washington made 14 three-pointers – five more than its season average – compared to just six by NAU.
NAU made its first six shots from the field, but only led 14-10 following sophomore
Nik Mains' second three-pointer five minutes into the contest. The 'Jacks continued to lead 20-15 at the 9:26 mark of the first half on a layup by Andre before NAU missed its next six shots.
By the time DeBisschop snapped a drought of more than five minutes without a field goal, the Lumberjacks found themselves trailing 27-23 with the Eagles having gone on a 12-3 run. With Eastern Washington's lead up to a first-half high of nine at 34-25, NAU strung together a small run to close the half with a DeBisschop three-pointer and a Shelton jumper to cut the deficit to 34-30.
Despite the momentum, NAU could not close the gap in the second half as the Lumberjacks played from behind for the final 27 minutes of the game. The Eagles' second half opening run proved to be crucial, although the Lumberjacks did trim their game-high 15-point deficit down to eight, 59-51, with 8:50 to play.
The 'Jacks got within eight points on three more occasions before the final horn.
Eastern Washington shot 43.5 percent and outrebounded NAU, 38-34. Using 12 offensive rebounds, the Eagles outscored the Lumberjacks, 15-8, in second chance points.
NAU shot 41.1 percent, but only made 11-of-29 (37.9 percent) after halftime. NAU did tie a season-high with 12 steals with DeBisschop and Shelton combining for seven of them.
The Eagles had four starters in double-figures with Mason Peatling (14 points, 14 rebounds) and Kim Aiken Jr. (15 points, 10 rebounds) recording double-doubles.
NAU is on the road this week with games at Idaho State on Thursday and Weber State on Saturday.
