PORTLAND, Ore. (January 17, 2026) – Playing without their top two scorers, the Northern Arizona men's basketball flashed grit and pushed Portland State, the Big Sky's lone remaining unbeaten team, to the final whistle in a 63-52 road loss in Viking Pavilion.
"We're not backing down to anyone and we're not giving up against anyone," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "I'm really proud of the way we competed. We played toe-to-toe with the first-place team. If we could've executed a little better, we could've win that game. We left the locker room with hope."
Zack Davidson missed his fourth consecutive game and
Ryan Abelman missed his first, leaving the Lumberjacks short-handed heading into Saturday's contest against the Vikings, who improved to 11-5 overall and 5-0 in conference play.
The Lumberjacks (6-13, 0-6 Big Sky) never backed down, particularly on the defensive end, where they held the Vikings to only 63 points. Portland State entered the afternoon averaging 90.0 points in its first four Big Sky victories.
Unfortunately, NAU struggled on the other end of the floor, particularly in the first half. The Lumberjacks only made six field goals in the first half, marking a season-low for shots made in a half, and 18 for the game. Although NAU shot 44.4% in the second half, it only pushed the Lumberjacks' field goal percentage for the game to 39.1%.
Holding a size advantage, Portland State – the Big Sky's leader in rebounding margin – hurt NAU on the glass. The Vikings outrebounded the Lumberjacks, 39-28, and parlayed 14 offensive rebounds to a game-defining 13-0 advantage in second chance points.
Still, NAU locked down Portland State from the start. The Vikings missed their first seven shots from the field and did not get on the board until the 15:38 mark. However, during that time, NAU was only able to get out to a 5-0 lead.
The Vikings took their first lead of the game, 13-12, near the midway point of the opening half as NAU went five minutes without a field goal.
Chris Komin turned a deflection on the defensive end into a transition layup to put the Lumberjacks back in front, 15-13, but the 'Jacks went cold from the field after that.
Komin's bucket was NAU's final field goal of the half – although the Lumberjacks only managed three attempts in the last 7:38 of the period. In all, NAU only had one field goal make in the final 12 and a half minutes, converting on 1-of-11 to close the half.
Turnovers plagued NAU with the 'Jacks committing 11 first half miscues. That allowed Portland State to claim the 28-21 halftime advantage despite shooting only 35.7% from the field.
Brennan Peterson kept the Lumberjacks in the game in the first half, scoring all 11 of his points prior to the break. Peterson played all but 20 seconds in the game and tied for the team-lead in scoring, with
Karl Poom matching his 11, and pacing the team with four assists.
Portland State used a 10-1 run to open up its largest lead of the game, 51-33, with 12 minutes remaining, but as NAU has done throughout conference play, the Lumberjacks strung together a run to apply pressure on their opponent.
NAU cut the deficit to nine with eight minutes remaining as
Diego Campisano drilled his second 3-pointer to cap a 12-4 run. Campisano's triple sliced Portland State's lead to 54-45, but NAU then endured a scoring drought of three and a half minutes, which all but ended the Lumberjacks' upset bid.
Poom and
Arne Osojnik spurred the Lumberjacks to a 29-6 advantage in bench points. Osojnik posted a strong game in reserve, recording eight points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
NAU faces a quick turnaround with the start of a four-game homestand on Monday at Findlay Toyota Court at the Walkup Skydome. The Astrojacks land for the first of two games on Monday at 6 p.m. MST when they host Montana.
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