CHENEY, Wash. (February 16, 2023) – The Northern Arizona University men's basketball team took on Eastern Washington tonight in Cheney at Reese Court, falling 72-55.
Eastern's longest current Division I men's basketball winning streak extends to 16 games, as the Eagles improve to 14-0 in Big Sky Conference play and 20-7 overall. After tonight's loss, NAU is 7-21 and 3-12.
Both
Carson Towt and
Jalen Cone scored 12 points, with
Liam Lloyd adding seven. Towt added five rebounds, four assists, and a steal. Trenton McLaughlin also had four assists, and
Nik Mains led the way with six rebounds.
Eastern Washington opened the game on a 6-0 run, holding Northern Arizona without a field goal until the 18:27 mark when
Carson Towt made a layup. From there, the Eagles exploded on an 11-2 run to lead 17-4. The Lumberjacks started to get settled and rattled off seven-straight points to cut the lead down to 19-13. The Eagles immediately jumped back ahead after a 10-0 run for a 34-16 lead, but that would be it, as NAU closed the half on a 6-0 run to make it a 34-22 game at the half.
The Lumberjacks were held to 30.3 percent (10-33) from the field while the Eagles shot 45.2 percent (14-31).
Northern Arizona came out and made its first three shot attempts from the field, cutting the lead to 39-29 after a Cone triple. Four different Lumberjacks then scored on a 9-0 run, capped by another Cone triple, putting NAU within four points, 42-38. That would be the closest the Lumberjacks would get, as the Eagles steadily pulled ahead and led by 14 points with 8:24 left to play. Eastern led by double digits for the rest of the game and closed the contest on a 7-0 run, as NAU turned the ball over four times during that span and were held scoreless for the final 2:15.
The Lumberjacks only committed eight turnovers and forced 15, turning EWU's miscues into 11 points. Eastern Washington held the 40-to-23 edge in the rebounding column. The Eagles were able to shoot 51.9 percent from the field and held NAU to 38.1 percent. Northern Arizona was 2-for-2 from the free throw line, with both coming from Mains. The Lumberjacks were 5-for-26 from three-point range compared to 10-for-25 for EWU.
Northern Arizona continues its road trip on Saturday, Feb. 18, at Idaho at 1 p.m. Mountain Standard time on ESPN+. The Lumberjacks will look to avenge a five-point loss to the Vandals from earlier this season.
