TULSA, Okla. (December 4, 2024) –NAU Basketball (6-3 Big Sky) fell to the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (3-6, 0-0 Summit) on the road Wednesday night, despite outshooting ORU from the field, 43.8 percent to 40.0.
Trent McLaughlin continued the path to 1,000 career points at Northern Arizona with a hot start at ORU, accounting for seven of the Lumberjack first 11 points while Northern Arizona trailed by one with 14:15 to play in the first half.
Diego Campisano would regain the lead for NAU with 12:08 to play, sinking both shots from the line as the Lumberjacks entered the bonus.
Carson Towt finished the first half hitting five of his final six shots, 6-9 overall while leading the Jacks alongside McLaughlin with 12 points each. The Jacks led the shooting game through the first twenty minutes, going 53.6 percent from the field while holding the Golden Eagles to 43.3 percent on 30 shots, finalizing the half at 38-38.
Back-and-forth play continued to start the second frame, before the Golden Eagles found a seven-point lead with 12:28 to play, forcing the Jacks into a timeout trailing 58-51.
Jayden Jackson would earn his second three-pointer of the night to bring Northern Arizona back within five of Oral Roberts with 8:19 to play, becoming the third Lumberjack to hit double-digit scoring.
Both squads went scoreless from the field for three minutes, only finding points at the line as each entered the early bonus, giving the Golden Eagle a 76-69 lead with 1:44 to play. McLaughlin took a driving layup with 35 seconds to play, shortening the ORU lead to 78-72. Despite the Jacks late efforts, the Golden Eagles held on to the lead to close the game out at 83-76.
McLaughlin led NAU scorers with 24 points, finishing 8-of-20 from the field. Towt closed out the night with his fifth double-double performance of the season, his 13
th career, with 17 points and 16 rebounds. Jackson matched Towt's 17 while shooting 60.0 percent from the field.
NAU Basketball will head back to Flagstaff to host South Dakota on Saturday for a 12 p.m. MST tip-off. To stay up to date with NAU Basketball, follow the Jacks on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
