CEDAR CITY, Utah (February 24, 2021) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team nearly did something no other team was able to do this season: hand Southern Utah a home loss. However, the Thunderbirds withstood a Lumberjack three-point barrage to hold off NAU's upset bid, 85-80, Wednesday night in the America First Event Center.
The victory concluded a perfect 14-0 season at home for the Thunderbirds, and Southern Utah won its sixth consecutive game in the process. The Thunderbirds moved to 16-3 overall and 9-2 in the conference, while the Lumberjacks dropped to 5-14 overall and 4-9 in Big Sky play.
"To get up 15 points, it's frustrating, especially getting to a two-point game at halftime," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "We shot the ball probably the best we've done all year and for (Southern Utah) to shoot 48 percent; when you score 46 points in the first half and you're only up two, that probably tells you all that you need to know. It's tough because you're looking for every possible answer and we're not finding them right now."
Redshirt junior
Nik Mains led the Lumberjacks' offensive first half onslaught with 15 of his career-high 18 points before halftime. NAU hit 10 three-pointers – equaling its season-high – in the first half alone with Mains accounting for five of them.
The Lumberjacks, who shot 56.3 percent from the field in the first half, hit four of their first five shots with junior
Cameron Shelton knocking down a three to force an early Southern Utah timeout three minutes into the game with NAU leading 10-9.
NAU broke open the game with a 20-7 run, fueled by four treys, over the course of a six-minute stretch to gain a game-high 15-point advantage, 41-26, with 5:18 remaining before the half. Following a Shelton layup, the Lumberjacks' lead was at 46-32 before the Thunderbirds closed the first half on a pivotal 12-0 run.
Southern Utah connected on six of its last seven shots from the field, while NAU went scoreless in the final three minutes as the 'Jacks saw their lead trimmed to just 46-44 at the break despite its 10 makes from long range. NAU posted its highest scoring half of the season, but Southern Utah kept it close by shooting 54.8 percent in the first half.
Both teams cooled offensively in the second half – both shooting under 42 percent – but Southern Utah got to the free throw line and converted at a near-perfect rate. Southern Utah was 16-of-17 at the charity stripe after halftime – and 20-of-21 for the game – while NAU's 4-for-10 effort, all in the second half, proved detrimental.
Redshirt freshman
Carson Towt scored on consecutive possessions to give NAU a narrow 50-46 lead 90 seconds into the period, and the 'Jacks remained in front until the Thunderbirds snagged a brief 52-51 advantage at the 14:35 mark. Shelton immediately responded with a three, spurring an 8-3 spurt, putting NAU back in front 59-55.
With the score later tied at 65-65, Southern Utah used a small, but important, 5-0 run to take a 70-65 lead with six minutes to play. The Thunderbirds never trailed again, although the Lumberjacks pushed them until the final horn.
Mains' sixth three-pointer cut the NAU deficit to 74-72 with 3:49 left, and Shelton later knocked down his season-high fourth three to once again close the gap to two, 79-77, with 49.2 seconds remaining.
Southern Utah hauled in a crucial offensive rebound on the following possession though, resulting in a pair of free throws to push the advantage back out to two possessions. NAU came right back though with redshirt junior
Luke Avdalovic drilling a three from the top of the key to bring the Lumberjacks within 81-80 with 13.5 seconds on the clock.
After Southern Utah put in both free throws, Shelton's potential game-tying three-pointer was short with 3.1 seconds left. The Thunderbirds closed the game with their final two freebies, preserving their undefeated home record.
"It comes down to getting stops on defense," Burcar said. "We had four three-point misses in the second half where we can go out in our transition game and we don't finish the possession."
Following his lowest scoring output of the season last Saturday with five points at Weber State, Shelton responded with a 25-point evening while playing all 40 minutes. Shelton tied a career-high with nine assists and also added seven rebounds and two assists.
Mains connected for a career-high six threes in his career-best scoring output and sophomore
Isaiah Lewis came up just shy of his first career double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. The latter was a career-best total.
NAU shot 49.2 percent overall and was 14-of-31 behind the arc. The 14 three-pointers were the most by the team since they made 17 versus SAGU American Indian College on Nov. 15, 2019. It also tied their most in a Big Sky game since making 14 threes versus Idaho on Jan. 20, 2018.
Southern Utah only outrebounded NAU, 34-31, despite coming into the night outrebounding opponents by almost 10 per game. In addition to holding a sizeable advantage at the free throw line, the Thunderbirds also outscored the 'Jacks, 42-26, in the paint and 15-3 in transition.
The Lumberjacks conclude the regular season on Friday at 5 p.m. versus the Thunderbirds in the Rolle Activity Center.
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