FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 19, 2026) – Two days after battling through a grueling defensive slugfest, the Northern Arizona men's basketball team had no issues scoring the ball on Monday. Unfortunately, neither did Montana. The Grizzlies shot 67.9% for the game, and 73.9% in the second half, and handed the Astrojacks a 98-72 defeat at Findlay Toyota Court at the Walkup Skydome.
"We could've done a lot of things better tonight," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "We battled through the first 16 minutes, and we battled in the second half, but we couldn't stop them. We scored at will, but we need to continue to get better. Our defense didn't show up and our offense did, so we need to get those two things working together."
The 98 points allowed were the most by an NAU opponent since a 106-101 overtime loss to Southern Utah on Dec. 17, 2022.
Neither team led by more than four points through the first 15 minutes of the game, and
Karl Poom put the Astrojacks within one, 29-28, with a layup with 5:14 to go in the first half. Money Williams converted on a second chance opportunity on the next possession, and from there, the Grizzlies made their next 11 field goal attempts spanning eight minutes of game time into the second half.
Williams' bucket made it a 31-28 game and by the time Montana missed a shot from the field four minutes into the second half, the Grizzlies' lead grew to 62-38.
Montana (10-9, 4-2 Big Sky) broke the game open largely with its long distance shooting. At one point late in the first half, the Grizzlies made five consecutive 3-pointers during a 17-3 run. Montana finished the night 13-of-22 (59.1%) from 3-point range.
The Grizzlies' offensive efficiently overshadowed an efficient offensive performance by the Lumberjacks, who dropped to 6-14 overall and 0-7 in Big Sky play. NAU shot 49.1% overall and made 10 3-pointers, the latter of which was its best total in league play.
Poom led four Lumberjacks in double-figures with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting. It marked Poom's fourth straight double-digit scoring game.
Diego Campisano provided a spark off the bench, at one point scoring 14 straight points for the Astrojacks. Campisano's fourth 3-pointer with 12:24 remaining in the game cut what was a 24-point Montana lead down to 67-52. Campisano's 14 points and four 3-pointers were season-highs.
Brennan Peterson also knocked down four triples in scoring 12 points, while
Isaiah Shaw added 10 to round out NAU's double-digit scorers.
Oakland Fort and
Chris Komin tied for the team-lead with five assists apiece, as NAU totaled 15 assists to only seven turnovers.
To cap the night, Montana converted on its final 10 shots of the field. The Grizzlies only missed six shots (17-fo-23) in the second half.
After playing three games in five days, the Astrojacks will return to the Walkup Skydome on Saturday versus Northern Colorado at 6 p.m. MST.
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