FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 3, 2025) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team saw its early first half lead disappear behind a 20-3 South Dakota State run as the Jackrabbits halted the Lumberjacks' three-game winning streak with a 75-62 win.
South Dakota State's victory not only snapped NAU's three-game overall win streak, but also snapped the Lumberjacks' 11-game win streak in the Rolle Activity Center. It was NAU's first loss in Rolle since Dec. 10, 2022.
"It was a great challenge for us tonight and we stepped up to the challenge, but this is a game that we can grow from," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "I was ok with our compete level, but I was not impressed with our toughness. We have to be tougher than the other team every single night."
South Dakota State's toughness was evident on the glass with the Jackrabbits outrebounding the Lumberjacks, 41-33. The damage was done on the offensive glass where South Dakota State pulled down 12 rebounds and converted into 14 second chance points.
The Jackrabbits (5-4) grabbed a critical offensive rebound and turned it into a 3-point play with 10 minutes remaining. The and-1 came with the Lumberjacks down six, 53-47, after having sliced into their 15-point deficit. NAU came up empty on the next possession and South Dakota State hit a 3-pointer on the other end to extend the lead back out to a dozen, 59-47.
NAU (4-3) failed to get closer than nine in the final nine minutes of the game.
Both teams started the evening slow as they combined to miss their first six shots and turned the ball over four times before the Jackrabbits got on the scoreboard with the game's initial points nearly three minutes into the game. NAU did not score until a minute later, but the Lumberjacks quickly settled in.
Arne Osojnik, who scored a season-high 16 points, knocked down a pair of early treys and
Zack Davidson threw down a dunk in transition to force an early Jackrabbits timeout. Davidson's dunk gave NAU a 14-8 lead, but NAU proceeded to miss 10 of its next 11 shots from the field going nearly seven and a half minutes without a field goal.
After Davidson's bucket, South Dakota State flipped the game around with a 20-3 run to snag a 28-17 advantage. NAU found a brief surge with
Ryan Abelman knocking down a pair of shots and Osojnik also hitting a jumper to stem the tide, but the 'Jacks ultimately went into halftime trailing 36-26.
With South Dakota State holding a 48-33 lead with 16:38 to play, NAU put together its best stretch with an 11-0 run to get within 48-44.
Chris Komin started the run with a 3-pointer and
Karl Poom bookended the run with triple himself.
However, South Dakota State soon converted on the key sequence following Davidson's split trip to the free throw line to once again open up a double-digit lead with 9:41 remaining.
The Jackrabbits outscored the Lumberjacks in every column in the box score while shooting 42.1% overall. NAU shot 40.7%.
Behind Osojnik's 16 points, Davidson chipped in 11. Poom led the team with seven rebounds.
NAU begins a stretch of three consecutive road games on Saturday in Fargo, N.D. with the back half of this year's Big Sky-Summit Challenge. The Lumberjacks face North Dakota State at 6 p.m. MST.
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