OGDEN, Utah (February 20, 2021) – For the second game in a row, the Northern Arizona men's basketball team hung tough with Weber State, but a pivotal first half closing run proved decisive in a 74-52 loss on Saturday. Redshirt junior
Luke Avdalovic led the Lumberjacks (5-13, 4-8 Big Sky) with 16 points – one shy of his season-high – and was the lone player to score in double-figures.
Weber State picked up its seventh win in its last eight games, shooting 47.5 percent overall to improve to 14-5 and 9-3 in the Big Sky. NAU shot 41.2 percent, but the Lumberjacks were just 4-of-16 as a team from behind the arc.
"We absolutely played better (than Thursday) all the way around, but we just had problems putting the ball in the basket; we had some good looks," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "Weber State is a really good team – they're top five in the country offensive – and we had some breakdowns. At the end of the day, we're heading in the right direction and I liked how we competed today."
The Lumberjacks got off to a slow start as the Wildcats held a 13-4 lead before a 7-0 NAU run brought the Lumberjacks right back into the game. A deep three by Avdalovic, who scored 10 of his 16 points in the first half, cut the Wildcat lead to 13-11 with 11:24 before the half.
After Weber State pushed its lead back out to six, NAU once again cut the deficit to a single possession, 25-23, following consecutive buckets by freshman
Carter Mahaney and sophomore
Isaiah Lewis. However, the Wildcats used a 7-0 run in the final 3:46 of the first half to take a 32-23 halftime lead.
The Wildcats rode the late first half momentum into the start of the second half, in which they outscored the 'Jacks, 9-2, in the first two minutes and change. By the end of the second half opening run, NAU's deficit that once stood at 25-23 was 41-25 with 17:40 remaining in the game.
Still, despite offensive struggles, the Lumberjacks were still within striking range when redshirt junior
Nik Mains knocked down a trey to make it 56-42 with at the 8:44 mark. But five consecutive missed shots and three turnovers in a four-minute stretch aided a 13-0 Wildcat run that put the game out of reach.
After connecting on 18 three-pointers on Thursday, Weber State was just 8-of-22 from long distance on Saturday; yet the Wildcats' balanced scoring with five players in double-figures was more than enough to dispatch the Lumberjacks and complete the weekend home sweep in the Dee Events Center.
Avdalovic, who accounted for two of NAU's four three-pointers, moved into sole possession of eighth all-time in school history finishing the game with 153 career makes. Avdalovic shot 6-of-12 from the field and also added two rebounds, two assists and one steal in a team-high 31 minutes.
Mains, who hauled in eight rebounds, was the only Lumberjack to grab more than three boards as Weber State outrebounded NAU, 37-25. Behind Avdalovic, redshirt sophomore
Keith Haymon was NAU's next highest scorer with six points.
Just one week remains for NAU before the conference tournament as the Lumberjacks will face Southern Utah next week in a home-and-home series. NAU and Southern Utah will get the week started on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Cedar City, Utah before the Lumberjacks' regular season finale in the Rolle Activity Center next Friday at 5 p.m.
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