Men’s Hoops Greets Home Crowd with Up-Tempo 97-48 Win Over Benedictine Mesa

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 15, 2021) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team pushed the tempo and ran past Benedictine Mesa, 97-48, in their 2021-22 home opener in the Rolle Activity Center on Monday to earn their first win of the season. The Lumberjacks (1-2) received career-high nights from redshirt sophomore Keith Haymon and redshirt junior Nik Mains as part of an all-around dominating effort.
 
The duo combined to shoot 15-of-23 from the field and 8-of-12 behind the arc as Haymon (21) and Mains (20) became the first pair of Lumberjacks to notch 20-point games since Cameron Shelton and Brooks DeBisschop did so versus Southern Utah on Feb. 15, 2020.
 
Haymon shot 5-of-7 from deep, while Mains was 3-of-5 behind the arc to lead four players in double-figures as sophomore Jalen Cone and redshirt freshman Carson Towt both netted a dozen each.
 
"We want to play fast at 7,000 feet and we had no agendas offensively," said head coach Shane Burcar. "We were sharing the basketball and we scored 97 points. We played good defense and got in transition. We want them to play with freedom and know who they are. It's a fun style to watch."
 
The Lumberjacks did indeed play fast and share the ball. NAU outscored Benedictine Mesa, 32-2, in transition and recorded 22 assists on 35 made field goals. The 22 assists were the most by NAU since posting 26 in a 105-32 win over SAGU American Indian College in its 2019-20 home opener. The Lumberjacks' 97 points were the most in a game since that win.
 
The Lumberjacks led 51-23 at the half, drilling 9-of-15 from three and shooting 50 percent overall in the first 20 minutes. Cone, who along with sophomore Isaiah Lewis both recorded six assists, got NAU going early with a pair of triples in building a 9-3 lead.
 
However, the game was close with NAU leading just 15-10 nine minutes into the game before the 'Jacks busted it wide open with a 13-2 run in a two-minute span. The run started with a transition alley-oop to sophomore Ajang Aguek, who led NAU's reserves with nine points, before Mains followed with a triple.
 
By halftime, Haymon had already set a career-high with 16 of his 21 points, while Towt, who also logged his first career double-double on Monday, had six points and seven boards. Towt finished the game with 12 points and 12 boards, paving the way for NAU to win the rebounding battle (44-37) and points in the paint (34-18).
 
NAU quickly started the second half with a 6-0 run to extend its lead out to 34 and the Lumberjacks snagged their first 40-point lead at 66-25 with 15:30 remaining in the game courtesy of a 9-0 run with all nine points coming from Towt and junior Mason Stark. Haymon's final three of the night at the 4:02 mark gave the 'Jacks their largest lead, 91-38, en route to the team's 23rd home opening win in the last 25 seasons.
 
"It was great to be in here and when we started getting up and down (the court), our crowd got into it," Burcar said. "We fed off of them and as I said before, for us to change the page here, we have to own Flagstaff. We got off to a good start here going 1-0 and a big reason of that was our fans."
 
NAU shot 49.3 percent for the game and hit 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) behind the arc. The Lumberjacks were also nearly perfect at the free throw line going 13-for-15 (86.7 percent). Benedictine Mesa (1-3) shot 31 percent for the game, including only 4-of-12 from three.
 
"We like to play in transition and we have a lot of guys who can shoot the ball and a lot of guys who can get to the rack," Haymon said. "It opens the floor up. We share the ball, we're unselfish and we hit our shooters. The shots were going down and once the shots were going down, you just keep going with it."
 
After turning the ball over 21 times in each of the first two games, NAU committed just eight on Tuesday while forcing 20 miscues by Benedictine Mesa. The Lumberjacks turned those 20 turnovers into 24 points.
 
The 'Jacks will aim to even their season record in the early going on Thursday with CSU Bakersfield (1-1) coming into the Rolle Activity Center for a 6 p.m. tip-off.
 
To stay up to date with the NAU men's basketball team, follow the Lumberjacks on Twitter and Instagram.