MISSOULA, Mont. (January 1, 2026) – After a hot offensive start, the Northern Arizona men's basketball team cooled in the second half as Montana pulled away for a 78-64 victory in the Big Sky opener for both teams on Thursday.
The Lumberjacks (6-8, 0-1 Big Sky) shot only 34.6% in the second half after shooting 50.0% in the first half. For the game, NAU shot 42.6% from the field compared to Montana's 53.8% clip.
"If we won tonight, we didn't win the Big Sky and we didn't lose the Big Sky tonight," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "It's an 18-game race and we can't lose sight of that. Give credit to Montana; they beat us tonight."
NAU went into the half all squared up with the defending conference tournament champion, but Montana (7-7, 1-0 Big Sky) capitalized on NAU's cold shooting in the final 20 minutes with an effective offensive attack of its own. The Grizzlies shot 60.0% in the second half in handing the Lumberjacks their sixth straight loss in the head-to-head series.
While Montana had five players score in double-figures,
Ryan Abelman (13) and
Chris Komin (10) were the only two double-digit Lumberjack scorers. For Komin, the 10 points marked his second of the season and first against a Division I foe. NAU did have six players with eight points or more.
The first half was as evenly played as the 34-34 halftime score indicated with seven lead changes and seven ties within the first 20 minutes.
The teams traded blows for most of the first six minutes with NAU claiming a 12-11 edge following a floater by
Kavon Bradford. A 9-2 Montana run gave the Grizzlies their largest lead of the half, 20-14, nearing the midway point of the half until the 'Jacks tied it up with back-to-back 3-pointers by
Brennan Peterson and
Isaiah Shaw.
Ryan Abelman gave the Lumberjacks a 28-25 lead with a 3-pointer of his own with 3:39 left in the period and NAU maintained that advantage until the final seconds. Montana tied up the score with the final two buckets of the half – both coming on second chance opportunities – and the teams went into the locker rooms knotted up.
All nine Lumberjacks scored in the first half in a balanced scoring effort with no player scoring more than five points.
Traivar Jackson, who narrowly missed his first career double-double with eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds, evened the scoreboard with a layup for the 10th and final time at 41-41 with 15:44 to play. However, Montana utilized a 7-0 ensuing run to take the lead for good, during which NAU went nearly three minutes without a point.
From there, the 'Jacks were forced to play catch-up from behind. NAU trimmed an eight-point deficit down to 53-50 following a pair of Komin free throws with 10:24 remaining, but could not get closer. Montana maintained a double-digit lead for all but one possession over the final six minutes.
Behind Jackson's first career double-digit rebounding performance, NAU narrowly outrebounded Montana, 30-29. Thursday marked the first time in six games this season that NAU lost despite holding the rebounding advantage.
With all specialty points nearly equal, the difference in the game came down to the second half where Montana made six more shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, than NAU.
"We need to make shots and that's the bottom line," Burcar said. "It's an even game. We beat them in rebounding, free throw attempts we beat them by one, so the physicality was there. At the end of the day, it's that simple. We have guys who can make shots."
The Lumberjacks aim to split their Big Sky opening road trip in Bozeman, Mont. on Saturday versus Montana State. NAU and Montana State tip-off at Worthington Arena at 6 p.m. MST.
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