DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 23, 2025) – NAU Basketball (18-16, 8-10 Big Sky) fell in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational on Sunday afternoon to the Queens Royals (20-14, 11-7 ASUN) in an 85-78 final at the Ocean Center.
"These guys will always be my guys, and we're going to be a part of NAU Basketball history forever. I've been gifted with these players, I love them and it has been a special year with them," head coach
Shane Burcar said.
To start the contest,
Ryan Abelman accounted for all eight of the Jacks points by the first media timeout of the game as NAU trailed the Royals 11-8 early on. Opposite of what the Jacks were pushing offensively, the Royals first 11 points were spread between five players on the floor.
Back-to-back dunks from
Carson Towt and
Jayden Jackson, followed by the second-chance three-point jumper from
Trent McLaughlin would pave the way to the Lumberjacks first lead of the game at the 12:52 mark, 17-15. Coming out of a scoreless three-minute stretch for Northern Arizona, the Jacks hit three consecutive shots to trail 36-35 with 4:28 remaining in the first frame.
The Lumberjacks trailed 45-41 at the half while led by Abelman's 11 points, followed closely by nine from McLaughlin, and eight from Jackson. Northern Arizona shot 54.5 percent from the field on 33 attempts, going 5-of-11 from three-point range as well. The Royals outrebounded the Jacks 18-9 in the first half, while 24 of Northern Arizona's 41 points were accounted for inside the paint.
Queens was able to stretch the lead to nine by the first timeout of the second half, forcing the Jacks to take it with 16:08 on the clock following a triple from Chris Ashby to push the Royals lead to 54-45. Coming out of the media timeout, Queens took a 6-0 run while Northern Arizona fell scoreless for nearly three minutes on the floor.
The Royals outscored the Jacks 28-11 through the first 11 minutes of the second half, shooting 63.6 percent on shots from beyond the arc, hitting seven triples. NAU vegan to find their offensive spark, hitting 5-of-5 field goals in a three-minute span to cut the lead to 76-62 with 5:42 remaining. The Jacks then hit a 6-0 run while Queens went scoreless for three-and-a-half minutes, making it a 10-point game with the Royals holding a 78-68 advantage. Three NAU turnovers in the final minute and a half would secure the Royals victory at 85-78.
Towt secured his 20
th double-double of the season against the Royals, simultaneously setting a new single-season rebounding record for the Big Sky Conference, finishing with 423 season rebounds, 13 in tonight's matchup, in addition to 22 points. Jackson led all scorers with a game-high 23 points, going 10-for-15 from the field and 2-for-3 on triples. McLaughlin and Abelman rounded out NAU's double-digit scorers with 15 and 11, respectively.
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