MOSCOW, Idaho (January 25, 2024) – The Northern Arizona Basketball (10-10, 3-3) team erased a 10-point early deficit to work their way back to a 75-60 road victory against the Idaho Vandals (7-12, 1-5) on Thursday night, winning NAU's third-straight in Big Sky Conference play.
"All the credit to the guys tonight, the biggest thing for us was to keep getting stops and be bold, for us to win on the road by fifteen is huge continuing with Big Sky play," head coach
Shane Burcar said.
Coming off a career-high week in Flagstaff,
Carson Basham's momentum was full speed from the start of play tonight, as Basham recorded all nine of the Lumberjacks first points of the game, going 75.0 percent from the field by the first media timeout.
By the under-twelve media break, the Vandals had capitalized with a 9-2 run over the Lumberjacking, taking a 20-11 lead into the timeout. While Idaho was shooting 50.0 percent from the field, the Jacks were seeing some offensive struggles, shooting 30.8 percent from the field while being outrebounded 11-7 as Idaho was able to find their rhythm inside the paint.
Jayden Jackson brought energy back to the Jacks, sinking two at the line and immediately driving in for his first layup of the night after an Idaho turnover, to bring the Jacks back within six. From there the Lumberjacks slipped the switch, hitting their own 9-2 run while
Trent McLaughlin put NAU on top, 30-29, after sinking a three-pointer and hitting one at the line to complete the four-point play.
Heading into halftime, the Jacks led 38-36 after McLaughlin knocked down the third shot from three-point range of the night, remaining a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc while 7-8 from the field with 18 points. The Lumberjacks had improved to 51.9 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from three-point range while holding the Vandals to 48.4 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from three while attempting 10 shots from beyond the arc.
Basham trailed McLaughlin on the stat sheet, closing out the first half with 13 points. Going 5-7 from the field and adding two blocks.
Oakland Fort joined in on the three-point action, finishing the first half 1-2 from beyond the arc, while dominating defensively and leading the Jacks with seven rebounds and a steal.
Getting back into action in the second half, the Jacks were able to continue their hot shooting, starting off with an 8-3 run to force the Vandals into a timeout with 17 minutes to go. Jackson quickly found himself amongst NAU's double-digit scorers, with 10 by the under-12 timeout going 4-7 from the field.
The Jacks picked up a game-high lead of 19 while four of five starters recorded double-digits as NAU found their first Big Sky road victory. McLaughlin finished 9-13 from the field, leading with 25 points, four assists, and three steals. Basham picked up 17 and six boards in 25 minutes on the floor while
Jayden Jackson grabbed 14 alongside
Oakland Fort who recorded his first career double-double performance with 14 points and 10 rebounds, marking a career-high in rebounds.
NAU recorded its best field goal percentage of the season, 55.6, finishing 30-54 as a team. Holding the Vandals to 41.1 percent from the field, the Jacks found their advantage on fast break points yet again with a +7 margin. As a team, NAU earned nine steals and capitalized on 14 points off turnovers.
The Jacks will now face the Big Sky's top team in the Eastern Washington Eagles on Saturday at 2 p.m. MST. To stay up to date with NAU Basketball, follow the Jacks on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
