Avdalovic Leads Offensive Onslaught of Portland State in 77-66 Tournament-Opening Victory

BOISE, Idaho (March 10, 2021) – Led by redshirt junior Luke Avdalovic's career-high 26 points, the Northern Arizona men's basketball team made it rain on Portland State early en route to a 77-66 victory in the first round of the 2021 Big Sky Championship on Wednesday.
 
The win is the Lumberjacks' first in the conference tournament since 2015, snapping a six-game tournament skid. With the victory, 10th-seeded NAU (6-15) will play No. 2 seed Eastern Washington on Thursday in the quarterfinals at 5 p.m. in Idaho Central Arena. The seventh-seeded Vikings conclude their season at 9-13.
 
"It was so disappointing to lose last year (in the conference tournament) and we just played outstanding," said head coach Shane Burcar. "Our guys have been playing hard all season and our record may not indicate that, but I'm so proud of these guys for believing in NAU Basketball. I'm just so happy for our guys and we'll move on to the next round."
 
The Lumberjacks made 10 of their first 14 shots from the field and was perfect behind the arc at 6-of-6 in building a 27-11 lead through the game's first 10 and a half minutes. NAU never trailed for the first time this season, and it came at the opportune time in the Lumberjacks' conference tournament opener.
 
NAU shot a season-best 58.7 percent (27-of-46) from the field and even better behind the arc at a scorching 75 percent (12-of-16). The 12 threes were NAU's most in a conference tournament game since knocking down 13 in a semifinal victory over Idaho State in 2004.
 
Meanwhile, Avdalovic's 26 points matched Kris Yanku's 26 points against Montana in 2015 as the Lumberjacks' highest scoring conference tournament performance in the last decade. He shot 9-of-15 overall and was a blistering 7-of-10 from long range to eclipse his previous career-high of 25 points – coincidentally set against Portland State last season.
 
Coming into the game, Avdalovic was averaging 17.3 points in four career games versus the Vikings. Three of Avdalovic's six career 20-point games have now come against Portland State.
 
"Historically with the way we play Portland State, I usually get good looks and I attest that to our preparation and my point guard (Cameron Shelton)," Avdalovic said. "He gets past the first line of that press easily and he knows where to find me in my spots. We knew what type of game this would be and I knew I'd get shots in my spots. I just had to knock them down."
 
Avdalovic got his afternoon rolling from the get-go, drilling his first three-point attempt of the game on the game's second possession. Sophomore Isaiah Lewis broke a 7-7 tie – the second and final of the contest – with a nifty layup and redshirt junior Nik Mains followed with consecutive threes to force a Portland State timeout.
 
The eight straight points was part of a greater 20-4 eruption that was capped by a three from redshirt sophomore Keith Haymon, giving NAU a 27-11 lead at the 9:22 mark of the first half.
 
Portland State closed to 31-22 five minutes before the half, but the Lumberjacks closed on a 13-5 run to take a 44-27 lead into the intermission. NAU shot 64 percent from the deck in the first 20 minutes, and misfired on just one of its nine three-point attempts. On the other side, Portland State shot just 26.9 percent and made only one of its 13 shots from behind the arc.
 
Just as he started the game, Avdalovic connected on a triple to open the second half scoring, which already put him at a season-high 18 points. The final outcome was never in question, as NAU's lead grew to a season-best 22 points, 59-37, with 13 minutes to play on consecutive buckets by Avdalovic and Haymon.
 
The closest the Vikings got in the final 25 minutes of the game was in the final seconds on three free throws to provide the decisive margin.
 
Aiding Avdalovic's offensive efforts was Haymon, who was an efficient 5-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-4 behind the arc on his way to 13 points – two shy of his career-high. Sophomore Ajang Aguek scored seven of his season-high 11 points – also one shy of his career-high – in the second half.
 
Although junior Cameron Shelton had a quiet scoring afternoon with eight points, the All-Big Sky First Teamer dished out six assists as part of a season-high 17 assist performance by the Lumberjacks.
 
"There was no pressure; all week the message was we don't have anything to lose," Shelton said. "No one expects us to come here and do anything special except for us. With that mentality, you can play free and have fun."
 
NAU also received notable performances from redshirt freshman Carson Towt (five points, four rebounds, three assists) and Lewis (four points, team-high six rebounds, three assists) in an all-around team victory.
 
Defensively, the Lumberjacks limited the Vikings to only 33.9 percent shooting in easily their best defensive performance of the season. Portland State shot just 20 percent from three as well with both marks being season-lows by an NAU opponent.
 
The Lumberjacks and Eagles will play in the third of four quarterfinal games on Thursday on Pluto TV Channel 1050. The pregame show on the Lumberjack Radio Network will begin at 4:30 p.m. ahead of the 5 p.m. tip-off.
 
To stay up to date with the NAU men's basketball team, follow the Lumberjacks on Twitter and Instagram.