Men’s Hoops Struggles Offensively, Falls 62-51 to First-Place Montana State

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 21, 2021) – Junior Cameron Shelton scored 24 points, and inched closer to the 1,000 point mark, but the Northern Arizona men's basketball team was limited to its second-lowest output of the season in a 62-51 loss to Montana State Thursday night. The Bobcats (8-3, 5-0 Big Sky) remained unbeaten in league play with their sixth straight win, while the Lumberjacks dropped to 4-10 overall and 3-5 in conference.
 
"Tonight was a back and forth game for the majority of the game," said head coach Shane Burcar. "The biggest thing I take away is that they had 10 offensive rebounds and we can't let that happen. We had a couple of possessions where we had the opportunity to end the possession (and we didn't). The other takeaway is that it's very uncharacteristic for us to have 15 turnovers and our offense was not good tonight."
 
The Lumberjacks' 51 points was the team's fewest since scoring 50 in a loss to UC Riverside in the second game of the season. NAU shot 40 percent for the game and was only 3-of-14 behind the arc, with the three triples matching a season-low. NAU's 15 turnovers also were the team's second-highest total this season.
 
NAU's offensive struggles offset a solid defensive effort which held Montana State 16 points under its season average. The Bobcats shot 46.8 percent overall.
 
Shelton, who is just 16 points shy of 1,000, was the only Lumberjack in double-figures, posting his ninth 20-point game this season to lead all scorers. Shelton was 10-of-20 from the field and accounted for all three of NAU's makes from deep, while also tallying six rebounds and five assists. Outside of Shelton though, the rest of the team was just 10-for-30 from the field.
 
Sophomore Isaiah Lewis and redshirt freshman Carson Towt got the 'Jacks off to a strong start, scoring on consecutive possessions to give NAU an early 4-2 lead. Montana State scored the next nine points and never trailed again.
 
NAU did manage to tie the game at 13-13 with 13 minutes left to play before halftime and trailed by just one, 25-24, with 3:48 on the clock following a Shelton three. Montana State would eventually take a 31-26 halftime advantage and held off a number of NAU bursts to claim the first of two games this weekend.
 
The Lumberjacks got within two on three separate occasions, the last coming with 11:31 to play off Shelton's third trey of the evening at 43-41. NAU would not get any closer though as a 10-3 Montana State run put some distance on the scoreboard with the Bobcats lead 53-44 four minutes later.
 
Following an emphatic dunk by Lewis that briefly brought NAU within 53-48 at the 6:12 mark, the Lumberjacks would go over six minutes without a field goal before sophomore Ajang Aguek put in the game's final points before the buzzer.
 
"We missed some layups tonight and we also didn't get great shots for everybody," Burcar said. "When we did, we didn't make them going 3-for-14 at the three-point line. The number Montana State is looking at more than anything is the 14 and they limited our three-point opportunities."
 
Montana State outrebounded NAU, 33-27, with both teams securing 10 offensive boards. The Bobcats were +3 in second chance points and +6 in points off turnovers.
 
The Lumberjacks will look to hand the Bobcats their first conference loss of the season and split the weekend when the two teams meet back up at 12 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center.
 
To stay up to date with the NAU men's basketball team, follow the Lumberjacks on Twitter and Instagram.