MISSOULA, Mont. (February 4, 2023) – In yet another down-to-the-wire contest, the Northern Arizona University men's basketball team lost to Montana, 67-66, tonight at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Mont. The result marked the sixth-straight loss that the Lumberjacks have suffered by less than five points, and the second-straight since falling to Montana State 69-68 on Feb. 2 in Bozeman, Mont.
After tonight's defeat, NAU falls to 6-18 overall and 2-9 in Big Sky Conference play. The Grizzlies snap a two-game losing streak to the Lumberjacks and improve to an even 12-12 overall and 6-6 in league action.
Carson Towt led the Lumberjacks with a career-high 23 points and earned a double-double with 12 rebounds. He was 11-of-14 from the field and dished four assists.
Xavier Fuller (16 points) and
Jalen Cone (10 points, five assists) rounded out the scoring.
"We have to get better at the end of the game, and I'm putting this on me," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "You sit in a hotel room for 12 hours and try to figure out how to win a game at the end, and I thought we were in a good situation with a four-point lead. We had some great shots. I know our guys are trying as hard as they can right now to get that execution in, but unfortunately it's not getting done."
The Lumberjacks wasted no time jumping ahead, opening the contest on a 6-0 run thanks to four points from Fuller and two from Towt. A
Nik Mains' triple extended the lead out to 9-2 in the early goings. Northern Arizona continued to lead and opened up a spread of 11 points after a
Liam Lloyd steal resulted in a Cone layup for a 21-10 advantage.
After the fast-break basket, the Griz started to close in using a 17-2 run to take its first lead of the game at 27-23 with 4:44 remaining. A quick 6-0 run with points scored by three different 'Jacks put NAU back in control with a 29-27 lead, but the Griz made two triples in the final 39 seconds to take a 35-33 lead into the locker room.
Northern Arizona shot a blazing 53.3 percent (16-30) from the field in the first half and held Montana to 46.4 percent.
The Lumberjacks trailed the Grizzlies for the majority of the early part of the second half, falling behind by as many as six points. A quick 6-0 run from NAU that included four points from Towt put the Lumberjacks back ahead 55-52 with under 10 minutes to play. Towt would step up once again with an old-fashioned three-point play to give Northern Arizona a 64-60 advantage as the clock ticked under three minutes. That wound wind up being NAU's final field goal of the contest, as they were held without for the final 2:59 of the contest.
A 5-0 run put the Griz slightly ahead, 65-64, but the lead was quickly diminished by two free throws from Fuller to make it a 66-65 game. The Lumberjacks went cold, going 1-of-11 and 0-for-4 on their final field goal attempts.
With 11 seconds left, UM's Brandon Whitney made a layup for the 67-66 advantage and NAU couldn't find an answer and came up empty on its final two attempts.
The Lumberjacks out-shot Montana, 48 percent (30-62) to 47 percent (27-58) and were held to just 3-of-16 from deep while the Grizzlies were 11-of-23. Northern Arizona had a 35-to-28 advantage on the glass. Both teams committed just nine turnovers each, and NAU dominated in the paint 40-to-26. The Lumberjacks held onto the lead for 22:26 in a game that featured nine lead changes and four ties.
Northern Arizona now makes the quick trip back to Flagstaff for three-straight games, beginning with Idaho State on Monday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. Mountain Standard time at Findlay Toyota Court. The Lumberjacks will look to avenge a 79-53 loss to the Bengals back on Dec. 29. The Bengals are also coming off of a one-point loss, falling to Weber State 72-71 in double overtime tonight. ISU is 8-15 overall and 5-5 in Big Sky play.
