FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 9, 2025) – Northern Arizona Basketball (18-15, 8-10) fell out of the Big Sky Tournament following a 74-65 final in favor of Montana on Sunday night.
The first media break of the night brought a 6-4 start in favor of the Griz, with the Jacks hitting two shots on their first 11 attempts while Montana hit two shots on five attempts with 14:35 to play in the half.
Trent McLaughlin would find the tie for NAU at 13-13, taking the driving layup inside and getting the foul call to make it three at the line. Just moments later, with 9:44 to play, McLaughlin sunk the Jacks first triple of the night for the lead, sparking a 10-0 run while the Griz fell scoreless for over four minutes on the floor. In the same span, the Jacks forced four Montana turnovers.
With just under four minutes till halftime,
Diego Campisano cashed in from beyond the arc, followed by the defensive stop and a
Carson Towt put-back layup to force Montana into their first timeout as the Jacks held a 27-20 lead. The Griz came out of the timeout hitting 4-of-4 from the field, taking the lead at the line with 1:26 on the clock.
Trent McLaughlin led the Jacks with a game-high 16 points on 50.0 percent field goal shooting. Northern Arizona forced seven turnovers from the Griz, while picking up eight points off turnovers. Towt grabbed six first-half boards, closely trailed by
Ryan Abelman with five.
Montana regained the lead at the 17:15 mark of the second half, with a Brandon Whitney three pointer at the top of the arc to lead 36-35. Picking up 20 on the night, McLaughlin drove another layup inside to tie things up at 42-42 with just over 12 minutes to play, immediately following up with the corner triple for the lead. Northern Arizona went scoreless from the field for nearly five minutes while Montana jumps out on an 8-0 run to take a 50-45 lead into the under-eight timeout. Montana extended the run to 12-0 before the Jacks put an end to it at the line.
Jayden Jackson cut what was a nine-point lead for Montana to five with a triple as Mclaughlin found him in the corner, trailing 56-51 with 4:56 to play. Montana hit a 7-0 run, stopped by McLaughlin with 2:31 to play while the Lumberjacks would call a timeout trailing 65-54. The Griz held on to advance to the semifinals, finishing the game 74-65. McLaughlin finished the game with 34 points, just one shy of his career-high, shooting 44.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Diego Campisano had nine points on the night, followed by seven from Jackson and six from Towt. Towt grabbed 13 boards, with Abelman picking up seven.
The Lumberjacks are coming off their best regular-season finish in the
Shane Burcar era, with a 17-win regular season marking the program's best since the 2015 campaign, where Northern Arizona made the CIT run. To stay up to date with NAU Basketball, follow the Jacks on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
