FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 21, 2024) – NAU Basketball (8-4, 0-0 Big Sky) grabbed the second-straight victory over Southern Utah (8-6, 0-0 WAC) on Saturday afternoon, snapping the Thunderbirds undefeated home streak in an 83-75 comeback.
"We're all feeling really good right now, the second half we played a lot better defensively, we met our goal on getting stops and the truth is, we have such a competitive group in there and they stepped up to the challenge," head coach
Shane Burcar said.
Jayden Jackson opened scoring for the Lumberjacks, taking the foul on the layup with 17:10 to play, as Jeffrey Langston would extend the Thunderbirds to the early 7-3 lead, accounting for all Southern Utah's first points of the game. Jackson followed suit with a layup and the mid-range jumper to tie things up at 7-7 ahead of the first media timeout.
By the under-eight media timeout, the Jacks trailed by five, 28-23 with Jackson sending NAU into the timeout following his fourth field goal of the game. Southern Utah's second three-pointer of the day would come from Tavi Jackson, giving the T-Birds the largest lead of the game yet, 33-23, with 6:27 to play ahead of halftime. A 10-2 run in favor of SUU would give the thunderbirds a 15-point lead. Northern Arizona quickly shaved it to trail by eight as McLaughlin sunk his second three-pointer of the game, and
Oakland Fort followed up with the mid-range jumper.
A 15-3 run for NAU to close out the final four minutes of the half, highlighted by a buzzer-beating three-pointer from
Trent McLaughlin as the Jacks trailed by three after the first 20 minutes of play. Mclaughlin led all scorers with 15 first-half points, shooting 3-6 from beyond the arc and 50.0 percent from the field.
Carson Towt tabbed his third-straight double-double performance, the 15
th of his career and the eighth this season, scoring 12 points and 10 boards. Jackson closed out the Jacks first-half double-digit scorers, picking up 11 while shooting 5-of-8 from the field.
Two early turnovers to start the second half for Southern Utah would lead to Towt tying up the score at 45-45 with the layup, and one at the line after Jeffrey Langston Jr. picked up his first personal foul of the game. Northern Arizona found their first lead of the game with 18:45 to go, as McLaughlin connected with Towt inside the paint for the layup.
An 8-0 run over a two-minute span for NAU would force Southern Utah into a timeout as Jackson's three-point shot from the left side put the Lumberjacks up 60-55. Northern Arizona took a 10-point lead with 7:09 to play as McLaughlin found the layup off a pass from Towt. The Lumberjacks completed the comeback in an 83-75 final as McLaughlin joined the 1,000-point club at NAU, hitting 1,000 NAU career points in his 80
th game as he led all scorers with 26 total.
"That's a guy who is all about winning, he works hard, and I couldn't be happier for him," Burcar said.
Jackson and Towt closely followed McLaughlin with 23 and 21, respectively. The trio totaled 70 points in the victory, while
Oakland Fort picked up eight,
Jack Wistrcill with two, and Abelman with three. Towt finished with 17 rebounds, marking the fifth-straight game in double-digits rebounding. McLaughlin added a team-high seven assists, and four steals in addition to his 26 points. As a team, NAU finished 47.2 percent from the field while shooting 33.3 percent from three-point range.
NAU Basketball will return to Flagstaff for one final non-conference matchup as they host Benedictine Mesa on Dec. 30 at Findlay Toyota Court in the Walkup Skydome. To stay up to date with NAU Basketball, follow the Jacks on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
