SACRAMENTO, Calif. (February 3, 2022) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team made plays down the stretch to gut out a 62-61 win in The Nest on Thursday, while sweeping the season series versus Sacramento State for the first time in nine years. With the road victory, NAU improved to 8-13 overall and 4-6 in conference play at the halfway point of the league slate.
"That last possession, there was a will to get the job done and I'm so happy for our guys," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "To win 62-61, it wasn't pretty, but you take it, and to be good you have to win these types of games when you're not making shots. To sweep any team in the Big Sky, anyone in the league will tell you it's hard to win on the road."
The Lumberjacks shot just 38.5 percent from the floor compared to the Hornets' 43.1 percent, and that was significant since NAU had dropped 27 consecutive games when shooting under 40 percent dating back to an overtime win over Southern Utah on Jan. 28, 2019.
Although NAU's field goal percentage was lower than preferred, the Lumberjacks made some key shots, particularly from behind the arc, in the second half to rally back from an eight-point deficit. Facing its largest deficit, 41-33, with 12:48 to play, the Lumberjacks connected on seven of their next eight three-point attempts with three from redshirt junior
Nik Mains and two each from junior
Mason Stark and redshirt sophomore
Keith Haymon.
Haymon's last three provided the Lumberjacks with a 58-55 edge with just under three minutes remaining, only for the Hornets to score the next four points to retake a 59-58 lead with 1:44 on the clock. That set up an extended possession that saw the 'Jacks fight for every loose ball and ultimately give them an opportunity to move in front for the final time.
After the Hornets' Bryce Fowler put his team ahead, the Lumberjacks missed three attempts from the floor, only to come up with an offensive rebound each time. Adding to the mix, Sacramento State – who entered the possession with just four team fouls – fouled twice in the sequence. A third foul put sophomore
Jalen Cone at the free throw line for a one-and-one with 19.4 seconds remaining, and the Lumberjacks' leading scorer calmly sank both to give the Blue & Gold a 60-59 lead.
Following a Sacramento State timeout, redshirt junior
Jay Green stole the inbounds pass, which led to two more Cone freebies. The Hornets would earn, and knock down, two free throws of their own on the next possession, and then had a chance at the buzzer to steal the victory away from the 'Jacks, only for their three-point attempt to draw the backboard.
"They did a really good job of guarding (Cone), but he had six assists and got the other guys involved," Burcar said. "
Mason Stark,
Keith Haymon and
Nik Mains were great from the three-point line. They made big shots."
Just 10 days after dropping 36 points on the Hornets, Cone was held to just 10 and without a three-pointer for the first time this season. At the same time though, he dished out a game-high six assists and also made 6-of-7 at the free throw line, including the last four in the final 19 seconds.
Mains scored 11 of his game-leading 16 points in the second half, drilling 4-of-8 from long range. Haymon was also efficient behind the arc at 4-of-7 for his 12 points. Redshirt freshman
Carson Towt matched Cone's 10 points, while also adding nine rebounds and four assists, and freshman
Jayden Jackson scored a season-high eight points in just his second career start.
The first half was a game of runs as it was the Lumberjacks who raced out of the gates first. With the Hornets cold from the field to start, shooting just 1-of-8, Towt led the Lumberjacks' initial charge with five points during an 11-4 game-opening run.
After both teams exchanged points, it was Sacramento State's turn to surge as the home team ripped off 13 straight to take a 19-13 advantage while holding NAU scoreless for nearly six minutes. However, NAU retook control of the half as a Mains three snapped the Lumberjack drought and Haymon followed with another triple to tie it up at 19-19 with seven minutes left before the half.
Cone capped the 10-0 Lumberjack surge with his first bucket of the game, and all in all, the 'Jacks ended the half on a 15-2 run. The Hornets managed just one field goal, while committing four of their seven first half turnovers, in the final 8:39 and went into the locker room trailing the Lumberjacks, 28-21.
The runs continued in the second half as the Hornets opened with a 20-5 run that led to their largest lead of the game, 41-33. Mains stemmed the tide with his first of three second half triples and later evened the score at 45-45 with 9:21 left with another three.
That would be the end of the wild runs as Stark's second trey of the game provided the 'Jacks with a 50-49 edge with seven minutes left in the first of five lead changes the rest of the night.
NAU shot 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from three-point range and made four more treys than Sacramento State did. That helped offset sizeable specialty scoring advantages for the Hornets off turnovers (18-7), in the paint (28-12) and off the bench (19-6). NAU did outrebound Sacramento State though, 37-30, and assisted on 14 of 20 made field goals.
The Lumberjacks will swing back to Flagstaff for a single game on Saturday versus Northern Colorado at 2 p.m. in the Walkup Skydome. It will be the team's lone home game in the next two and a half weeks.
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