FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 10, 2022) – For the second time this season, the Northern Arizona University men's basketball team faced off against Utah Valley, hosting the Wolverines at the Rolle Activity Center this afternoon. The Lumberjacks fought back from an 11-point deficit in the second half and forced the game to overtime but wound up falling 80-75. After the loss, NAU is now 4-8 overall while Utah Valley improves to 6-4.
Four Lumberjacks scored in double figures, led by
Jalen Cone with 29 points.
Nik Mains earned his first double-double of the season with 10 rebounds and 10 points, shooting 4-for-8 from the field with four assists.
Xavier Fuller (13 points) and
Carson Towt (11 points) rounded out the scoring.
The Lumberjacks had 17 assists to only nine turnovers, forcing 18 Wolverine miscues that turned into 20 points. Both teams were even from the field, with NAU shooting 44.1 percent (30-68) and UVU shooting 44.6 percent (25-56). The Wolverines won the rebounding battle, 42-to-32.
"That was a tough loss. You always live in the moment when you're building for the season, but it's tough on a Saturday when you fight like that. We got up 9-to-4, but then we got stuck on nine. I'm not saying you can win those games in those moments, but sometimes you can help your cause. We got down in the first half and fought back, and we went into the locker room encouraged down 35-32," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "We came out and before you knew it, we were down 11 for our biggest deficit. I thought we grinded out and got better defensively and we had a chance to win it. Unfortunately, we didn't get it done in overtime. There are a lot of bright spots to work on with this, and the biggest thing for our guys was to see how our crowd was. You can't be here at Northern Arizona and not mention the crowd, the building, the excitement, and the character of our guys. The crowd helped us come back from our 11-point deficit."
Northern Arizona started off strong, jumping out to a 9-4 lead after a jumper by
Xavier Fuller. The Wolverines tied the contest 9-9 and used a 9-0 run to take a 15-9 lead. In all, the run would extend to 11-2 for a 20-11 advantage for Utah Valley. After the lead grew to 25-16, a jumper by Cone sparked a 7-0 run to pull within two points. The Lumberjacks stayed within striking distance, score four unanswered points in the final minute to make it a 35-32 game at the half. The Lumberjacks shot 46.4 percent from the field in the first period compared to 45.8 percent for UVU.
Utah Valley came out firing in the second half, going on an 11-0 run to pull ahead 51-40 for its largest lead of the game. The 'Jacks stayed composed, and consecutive three-pointers by Cone trimmed the deficit down to 57-54 with 9:17 remaining.
After the Wolverines pulled back ahead by eight points, 66-58, Mains stepped in. He made a layup to trim the game down to 66-60, then followed up with another three-pointer to cut the lead down to 66-63. UVU pulled back ahead by five, but Mains was there again with another triple to cut the lead down to 68-66 with 2:01 remaining. With 1:27 left to play, Cone hit a jumper to tie the contest 68-68 that would eventually send the game to overtime. Cone would make a three-pointer with seconds left for the win, but the shot came just after the buzzer and did not count.
The squads were tied 70-70 in the overtime period before Utah Valley used a 6-0 run to pull ahead 76-70. With seven seconds left, Trenton McLaughlin made it a three-point game following a triple from the corner, but UVU headed to the line and made two free throw attempts to ice the game, 80-75. The Wolverines shot 50 percent from the field and 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the overtime period compared to NAU who shot 33.3 percent with no free throw attempts.
The final non-conference game of the year takes place next Saturday, Dec. 17, at NAU's old Big Sky Conference foe, Southern Utah. Tip is set for 1 p.m. Mountain Standard time.
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