FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 16, 2025) – Northern Arizona men's basketball plays the first of four home games in the Rolle Activity Center, where the Lumberjacks have won eight consecutive games, on Tuesday, hosting Embry-Riddle at 6 p.m. MST.
Mitch Strohman will have the call on the Northern Arizoan Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network and
ESPN+. The radio pregame show begins at 6:30 p.m. MST.
NAU heads into the game with a 1-2 record following an 84-49 road loss to No. 5/6 Arizona last Tuesday. With a week in between games, and the start of an extended homestand upon them, the Lumberjacks will look to build on the successes of their first three games and learn from their errors.
"We designed the schedule intentionally," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "We have time to get better. The games (against Drake and Arizona) are really important. They're not going to make or break us, but we can certainly learn from them. We're fired up for Tuesday and we're entering an important stretch for us."
NAU hosts Embry-Riddle, its NAIA neighbor from Prescott, for the second consecutive season. The Lumberjacks lead the all-time series, 3-1, including an 82-47 win in Rolle last season. The 'Jacks shot 57.4% from the field in last season's victory.
Facing two NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago in its first three games, NAU has been led by
Zack Davidson. The first-year Lumberjack paces the Lumberjacks with 18.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He has a pair of 20-point games this season and is shooting 58.5% from the field.
The Lumberjacks also have a pair of players averaging just under 10 points per game in Arne Osojnik (9.7) and Ryan Abelman (9.0). Osojnik leads the team with 3.3 assists per game and Abelman is tied for second with 6.3 rebounds per game.
Against the Wildcats last week, Traivar Jackson logged his first double-digit scoring game as a Lumberjack with a team-high 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting. Chris Komin came off the bench and recorded six points, two assists and a team-best four steals in 13 minutes. In the last two games, Komin has totaled eight points and five steals with a pair of 3-pointers in just under 10 minutes per game.
Embry-Riddle took a 5-0 record to Lewiston, Idaho, but left with its first two losses of the season. The Eagles (5-2) took their first loss, 89-81, to Eastern Oregon on a neutral court on Friday and followed with an 86-68 road loss to Lewis-Clark State College. The Eagles, under former NAU assistant coach Ben Tucker, are on the rise. After winning only eight games in Tucker's first season in 2023-24, Embry-Riddle won 13 games last season and reached the GSAC semifinals.
Embry-Riddle is a high-scoring team, averaging 86.9 points per game, and does so efficiently shooting 50.6% as a team overall and 39% from behind the arc.
Noah Gifft is one of three Eagles averaging more than 12 points per game, leading the team with a scoring average of 19.0. Gifft is averaging 3.0 3-point makes per game and shooting 46.7% from deep. Peter Dress ranks second on the team in scoring (15.7) and first in rebounding (7.0), while shooting 59.5% from the floor.
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