FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 24, 2025) – Ryan Abelman set career-highs with 21 points and 12 rebounds for his first career double-double as Northern Arizona men's basketball notched an impressive 93-87 victory over Cal Poly on Monday to begin its Thanksgiving Multi-Team Event. The Lumberjacks posted their second straight win and improved to 3-2, while the Mustangs fell to 3-4.
Abelman was one of two Lumberjacks with 20 points as
Isaiah Shaw reset his career-high for the second consecutive game, pacing all players with 22 points. All five starters scored in double-figures, as NAU had five players with double-digit points for the second consecutive game.
NAU shot a blistering 60% from the field in the second half and 52.4% for the game to overcome 13 3-pointers by Cal Poly, who was coming off a road win over previously unbeaten Utah.
The Lumberjacks fell into an early 18-7 hole less than six minutes into the game, but settled into the game from there after opening with just three field goals in their first 11 attempts. By the end of the half, NAU held a 52-46 halftime lead.
"We got out 3-0 and before you know it, it was 5-3. Then we're down 11 and we took a timeout. If we were going to win this game, we needed to be better than the people in front of us," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "From that timeout until halftime, we were +17. We kept chipping away and nobody panicked. To come back from 11 and finish the game the way we did says a lot about our young men."
Cal Poly still maintained a 27-18 lead at the 11:25 mark in the first half before Abelman began to lead NAU's charge back. Abelman cleaned up his own miss to start a 14-5 run, which he eventually capped with one of his four 3-pointers to tie the score at 32-32 three minutes later.
NAU closed the first half on a 12-2 run with true freshmen
Brennan Peterson and
Chris Komin contributing key 3-pointers. The half ended with a flurry, first on the defensive end as
Traivar Jackson rejected a Mustang dunk on the defensive end and Abelman hit another triple in the waning seconds.
The 'Jacks opened up a lead as large as nine points in the second half's opening minutes only to see the Mustangs erase their own deficit and take a 67-66 lead with 11:26 to play.
The teams were locked up on five occasions over the next seven minutes before Abelman broke the game's final tie with a 3-pointer, giving NAU an 81-78 edge.
Zack Davidson followed with a second chance basket to put the Lumberjacks up by five.
After Cal Poly closed within one at 83-82 with three minutes remaining, Davidson and
Kavon Bradford converted in the paint to push NAU's lead back out to five. With the lead in hand, NAU closed out the win with six free throws in the final two minutes.
"It's a daily process," Abelman said. "Whether we win or lose, we need to come in tomorrow and do the same stuff we do. We'll come back on Wednesday, play as hard as we can and let the result take care of itself."
A big factor in the game, particularly in the first half, was turnovers. In the first half, Cal Poly turned the ball over 11 times to only three by NAU. The Lumberjacks used that to outscore the Mustangs, 13-0, off turnovers. For the game, NAU was +12 off turnovers.
Backing Abelman and Shaw's 20-point performances were Davidson, Bradford and
Arne Osojnik, who each scored 12 points. Bradford has most impactful game as a Lumberjack through the early season, also adding five rebounds and six assists with only two turnovers.
NAU will be back in the Rolle Activity Center on Wednesday at 6 p.m. when it hosts Southeast Missouri State. SEMO and Cal Poly will matchup Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at Rolle on a neutral court on the second day of NAU's MTE.
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