PORTLAND, Ore. (January 12, 2023) – Once down by 17 points and facing a 10-point deficit at the half, the Northern Arizona University men's basketball team clawed back at Portland State with a huge second-half effort tonight at the Viking Pavilion in Portland, Ore.
The Lumberjacks opened the second half on a 15-0 run and led by as many as six points. With 17 seconds left, NAU led by five points (74-69) but missed four-straight free throw attempts. PSU's Hunter Woods hit consecutive three-pointers including one right at the buzzer, and the Vikings secured the 75-74 win.
After tonight's decision, the Lumberjacks drop to 5-13 overall and 1-4 in Big Sky Conference play. The Vikings, who have now won three-straight over NAU, improve to 8-9 and 2-2. This is the second-straight contest between the two foes, who were both picked in a tie for seventh in the Big Sky Preseason Poll, that was decided by one point in the Vikings' favor in Portland.
Northern Arizona suited just nine players in tonight's action, as its leading scorer
Jalen Cone did not make the trip due to an illness.
Four players scored in double figures, led by
Carson Towt who earned his second double-double of the season with 19 points and 16 rebounds. Seven of his rebounds were offensive, and he finished 8-of-11 from the field with three assists.
Xavier Fuller finished with 19 points after going 6-of-6 from the free throw line, adding six rebounds. Trenton McLaughlin scored a career-high 11 points, all coming in the second half, as he was 3-for-6 from three-point range.
Liam Lloyd finished with 11 points as well, and
Oakland Fort dished a team-high four assists plus seven boards.
"I feel for our guys and I feel for everybody involved. This needed to be a win. We had a five-point lead with 17 seconds to go. They ran the pick-and-pop, and we knew that was coming, he made it, but we got to go to the free throw line where unfortunately we didn't make any at the end. They made a miracle shot and Carson (Towt) had a great closeout to it," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "You have to give credit to Hunter Woods for making those two three-pointers. This is hard to take."
A Fuller three-pointer got the action started in Portland, but from there, the Vikings went on a 15-3 run to lead 15-6, holding Northern Arizona without a field goal for nearly five minutes of play. Another run by the Vikings of 9-0 gave PSU a 26-10 lead with 7:52 left to play. The lead extended to 29-19 as the Lumberjacks were held without a field goal for another 4:09.
Consecutive triples by
Keith Haymon, plus a Towt layup, helped NAU string together an 8-2 run to trim the lead down 31-20. Besides a Towt layup at the buzzer, the Lumberjacks were held without a field goal for the final five minutes of the half. After 20 minutes, Northern Arizona trailed 36-26.
Turnovers plagued NAU during the first half of play, committing 13 compared to only four for the Vikings. The Vikings would turn 13 turnovers into 17 points and shot 45 percent from the field and held NAU to 30 percent. NAU stayed in the game due to going 9-of-12 from the free throw line while PSU went 0-for-4. The Lumberjacks also had a 22-15 edge on the boards.
The Lumberjacks came out on fire in the second half, exploding on a 15-0 run. McLaughlin scored five-straight points to cut the lead down to 36-31. Lloyd then hit consecutive threes to give Northern Arizona a 37-36 lead which was followed by a Fuller pullup jumper. Four more consecutive points from Fuller extended the lead to 43-38.
A Towt layup gave NAU a 50-44 lead and the teams exchanged buckets from there. A Viking three-point play gave PSU its lead back, 53-52 for a 6-0 run, with 9:31 left to play. The game moved in to a 54-54 tie before Towt scored four-straight to put the 'Jacks back in the lead.
NAU continued to roll while holding the Vikings without a field goal for seven minutes of play, going on a 4-for-5 spurt from the field. McLaughlin's third triple put the Lumberjacks ahead 68-62 and with 1:24 to go, Northern Arizona led 69-67. Fuller and Fort each went 2-for-2 from the free throw line to pull ahead 73-67 before a PSU bucket cut the lead to 73-69.
Mains made a free throw with 17 seconds left for a 74-69 advantage before Woods made a three on the other end. From there, NAU missed four-straight free throw attempts and the Vikings scored on a buzzer-beater three-pointer, ending the game on a 6-0 run in the final 10 seconds for a 75-74 victory.
Northern Arizona outscored the Vikings 48-39 in the second half. It improved its shooting percentage to 51.6 in the second half and cut the turnovers down to five.
In all, the game had seven lead changes and three ties with NAU leading for 17:08 of the contest. Portland State shot 42 percent (25-59) from the field compared to 23-for-54 for 43 percent for the Lumberjacks. At the line, NAU was 20-for-30 and the Vikings were 13-for-18. PSU made 12 three-pointers and held the Lumberjacks to eight. The Vikings committed 11 turnovers and turned 18 Northern Arizona turnovers into 20 points. Northern Arizona dominated on the boards, winning the rebounding battle 45-to-27 and earned the edge in the paint, 26-to-24.
The Lumberjacks go on to play at Sacramento State on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 3 p.m. Mountain Standard time at The Nest in Sacramento, Calif. The Hornets are 10-7 overall and 3-1 in league play, winning seven of their last nine games with a 72-64 win over Northern Colorado tonight.
