POCATELLO, Idaho (February 6, 2020) – Sophomore
Cameron Shelton sent Thursday's game in Reed Gym into overtime and junior
Cameron Satterwhite calmly sank the game-winner with 55.6 seconds left in the extra session as the Northern Arizona men's basketball team edged Idaho State, 88-87.
The Lumberjacks overcame a seven-point deficit, then saw their own 13-point lead evaporate before prevailing on the front end of their week's road trip. Shelton paced all players with 24 points to lead NAU (13-8, 7-5 Big Sky) past Idaho State in yet another nail-biter for the Lumberjacks.
"We were down for the majority of the last minute of the game, but we fought back and that gave us a lot of confidence," Shelton said. "We feel like we didn't play a good game, but we felt if we got a second shot at it, we couldn't blow it."
No two points were bigger for Shelton than his last two of regulation. With Idaho State leading by a pair, junior
Bernie Andre pulled down the rebound off the Bengals' missed free throw with 7.5 seconds left, which would have given the home team a three-point lead. Andre hit Shelton on the outlet and Shelton took it coast-to-coast for the game-tying basket with 1.4 seconds left.
Shelton's layup sent the game into overtime tied at 80-80, where Idaho State led 85-84 before Andre intercepted a Bengal pass and once again found Shelton on the fast break. Shelton moved NAU in front, 86-85, with 1:33 left, only for Idaho State to score on its ensuing possession. That set up Satterwhite's eventual game-winner from just inside the arc with under a minute left, putting the Lumberjacks ahead, 88-87.
Idaho State misfired on its next possession and following an NAU miss, the Bengals threw the ball out of the bounds with 6.6 seconds remaining. NAU managed to dribble out the clock, avoiding an Idaho State foul, and sealing the victory in its first overtime game of the season.
"I'm feeling really good; I'm really happy for our guys," said interim head coach
Shane Burcar. "We were up 13 and before you know it we were down and there were three or four times when you though the game was over for most people. But I knew our guys would battle. We've been talking about toughness and they were pretty tough tonight to pull out the win."
NAU had four players with 15 points or more led by Shelton's 24. Andre tied a season-high with 20 points and Satterwhite scored a career-high 19 points. Senior
Brooks DeBisschop rounded out the Lumberjacks' high scorers with 15.
In addition to his game-winner, Satterwhite also tallied a career-high eight rebounds to lead all players. Andre and DeBisschop each pulled down seven boards as the teams were tied on the glass, 31-31.
Both teams were exceptional offensively with the Lumberjacks shooting 54.5 percent for the game. The Bengals shot 49.2 percent.
Idaho State broke an early 6-6 tie with a 9-2 run to take its largest lead of the game, 15-8, seven and a half minutes into the evening. NAU trailed for the next seven minutes until DeBisschop put the Lumberjacks ahead, 27-26, with five minutes to play in the first half.
The Bengals brought it even at 30-30, but a Satterwhite trey started a 7-0 NAU run before the Lumberjacks settled for a 38-35 advantage going into halftime.
Satterwhite and Andre combined for all nine points in a second-half opening 9-1 run that opened up the Lumberjack advantage to 47-36. After the Bengals closed the gap to five, 51-46, the 'Jacks used an 8-0 run capped by a layup by sophomore
Luke Avdalovic to snag their largest lead of the game, 59-46, with 13:25 left in regulation.
Idaho State immediately responded with a 16-1 run to surge in front, 62-60, three minutes later. The lead exchanged hands five times all the way until the final minute when Idaho State was clinging to a 79-76 lead with 19 seconds remaining. Andre was fouled and sank both freebies to make it a one-point game at 79-78.
The Lumberjacks then fouled the Bengals' Austin Smellie with 7.5 seconds on the clock. Smellie only made one-of-two though before Shelton drove the length of the court for the equalizer at the end of regulation.
NAU will look to sweep its road trip – and pick up its fourth straight conference road win – at Weber State on Saturday with tip-off at 7 p.m.
The 'Jacks last posted four consecutive Big Sky road wins during their last NCAA Tournament season in 1999-2000.
