BOISE, Idaho (March 11, 2020) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team made a hard second half charge, erasing a 15-point halftime deficit before ultimately dropping their conference tournament opener, 64-62, in the CenturyLink Arena to Idaho State on Wednesday.
Junior
Bernie Andre led NAU's second half comeback with all 16 of his points coming halftime. The Lumberjacks, who fell to 16-14 overall, tied the game at 50-50 with 11 minutes left and trailed by a single point, 62-61, with three minutes remaining. However, NAU only managed one free throw in the final stretch.
"I'm proud of how the guys fought back," said interim head coach
Shane Burcar. "I knew (the halftime deficit) was something we could overcome. The young men our locker room believed in each other and believed in what we're doing, but obviously it's disappoint coming up two points short."
After Idaho State shot 58.1 percent in the first half, including 7-of-12 from deep, NAU shut down the Bengals to the tune of 27.6 percent shooting in the second half. Idaho State only made 1-of-5 behind the arc in the second half.
The 'Jacks outscored the Bengals, 33-20, in the second half before eventually falling short. NAU only shot 35.9 percent for the game as Idaho State finished at 43.3 percent. All three of NAU and Idaho State's season meetings were decided by four points or fewer.
The Lumberjacks went into halftime trailing 44-29, but not without a rapid 11-2 start to the game. Senior
Brooks DeBisschop and sophomore
Luke Avdalovic combined for all 11 points in the game-opening run, which forced a Bengal timeout less than four minutes into the game.
Idaho State settled in and responded with a 15-4 run that pushed the Bengals in front for the first time, 17-15, at the 12:41 mark in the first half. Consecutive buckets by sophomore
Cameron Shelton and DeBisschop gave the 'Jacks the lead once again 21-18 three minutes later, but NAU missed 14 of its last 16 shots from the field in the final 9:40 of the half.
On the other end, the Bengals made 11 of their final 15 shots heading into the locker room including four threes in the final four minutes to take a 15-point halftime lead. All in all, Idaho State closed the first half on a 26-8 run.
With its season in the balance, NAU came out of the half with a vengeance as Andre spearheaded a 13-0 second half opening run. Andre scored eight of those points and had one of two three-point plays for NAU – junior
Cameron Satterwhite had the other – as the 'Jacks chopped their deficit to 44-42 at the 16:12 mark.
"In the first half, I didn't battle hard enough to help my brothers win," Andre said. "We didn't need a pep speech at halftime. We had to come out and play the way we know how to play. I wanted to make sure I gave everything I had on the floor for my brothers to give us a chance to win the game."
Andre was not done as he hit two more threes in the next five minutes, the second of which momentarily tied the score at 50-50 with 11 minutes remaining in the game. However, Idaho State immediately answered with a 7-0 run which forced an NAU timeout at the 8:37 mark with the 'Jacks trailing, 57-50.
The Bengal run proved to be the decisive spurt as the Lumberjacks were unable to draw even again. NAU remained in striking distance and a three-point play by DeBisschop got the 'Jacks within 62-61 with exactly three minutes to play.
NAU came up empty on its next four possessions though, leaving the score at 62-61 until Idaho State knocked down two free throws with six seconds remaining. Needing a three-pointer to send the game into overtime, NAU was unable to get that shot as Idaho State fouled Shelton to send him to the line for two.
Shelton made the front end of the one-and-one and missed the second attempt intentionally. Unfortunately, the Lumberjacks could not corral the rebound as time expired.
DeBisschop, in possibly his final game as a Lumberjack with NAU's postseason fate still up in the air, recorded his seventh double-double of the season with team-highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Andre notched 16 points and eight boards and Shelton finished with 13 points and eight boards himself.
"Coach Burcar put NAU men's basketball in a great spot to be one of the best, if not the best basketball program in the Big Sky moving forward," DeBisschop said. "It's a total 180 from my first three years and I'm thankful for him for the opportunity he gave me and this team. We just didn't play good enough to win the basketball game."
Regardless whether NAU receives a potential postseason invite or not, the Lumberjacks finish the season with 16 victories – their most in five years and surpassing the last two seasons' win totals combined.
