FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 8, 2024) – NAU Basketball dropped its fourth-straight Big Sky meeting on Thursday night, falling 94-66 to the Montana Griz.
"We talk about our toughness all the time and this is a tough one to swallow, the good thing about basketball is that we get to turn around and play in less than 48 hours so we got to get ready for Montana State," head coach
Shane Burcar said.
It was a much different start to play than the January meeting between the Jacks and the Griz in Missoula, as two early fouls quickly sent both teams to the line to record their first points of the game.
A 2-2 start for
Oakland Fort with five points kept the Lumberjacks within one of Montana by the first media break of the game. Hitting an 8-0 run for an 18-11 lead, the Griz found 14 of those points inside of the paint, forcing NAU to take their first timeout with 13:09 to go. After the Griz extended the run out to 13-0 over a five-minute span,
Carson Basham picked up two points inside the paint, shortening the margin to ten.
Three consecutive stops for NAU's defense, including a Basham block and a
Ryan Abelman steal, would send the Jacks on their own run, 7-0, while holding the Griz scoreless for three-and-a-half minutes to force a Montana timeout.
While the Griz finished the second half 27-14 after calling the timeout to end the Lumberjack run, Montana took a 50-32 lead into halftime. NAU shot 39.3 percent from the field through the first 20 minutes, while the Griz 18-point lead was highlighted by 60.6 percent shooting from the field and 5-7 from three-point range.
Bringing things back to a 16-point deficit by the under-16 media mark, led by a
Jayden Jackson three-pointer and layup. A 7-0 run for the Griz out of the timeout created a 21-deficit for the Jacks with 13 minutes to go in the game.
At the under-12 break the Lumberjacks were outshooting the Griz by 58.3 percent to 54.5 percent from the field. Looking to make a surge with 8:37 on the clock,
Isaiah Kai picked up a block while down the stretch
Tichyque Musaka grabbed a layup to put the game at 77-57 in favor of the Griz.
Although the Jacks were able to turn up the offense in the second half, the 45.3 shooting percentage wouldn't put a stop to the Grizzlie's 58.7 percent from the floor. Basham led the way for NAU with 15 points and four boards, followed by McLaughlin with 12 and Jackson with 9. Lloyd tabbed a team-high six assists in addition to eight points and four rebounds.
The Griz finished with five players in double-digits, led by Aanen Moody's 20, and closely followed by Te'Jon Sawyer with 15, Josh Vasquez with 14, Dischon Thomas with 13, and Brandon Whitney with 10 while nearing a double-double with nine assists on the night.
Montana put up 52 points in the paint tonight in comparison to NAU's 38, while their bench converted for 31 in comparison to the Jacks 15 bench points tonight. Turnovers didn't end in the Lumberjacks favor, finishing 11-6 while giving the Griz 10 points off turnovers. Montana finished +12 on the boards.
The Lumberjacks will now host Montana State on Saturday at 2 p.m. MST in the Skydome. To stay up to date with NAU Basketball, follow the Jacks on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
