FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 24, 2026) – Chris Komin set the tone and
Ryan Abelman sealed the Northern Arizona men's basketball team's first Big Sky victory of the season, 81-77, over Northern Colorado Saturday night. The win snapped NAU's seven-game losing streak as the Astrojacks improved to 7-14 overall, 1-7 in Big Sky play.
"We've faced some adversity and we haven't had a good start to the Big Sky season, but we're a one-bid league and all you can do is control what is in front of you," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "We stepped up to the plate and performed tonight. I don't think you can give the guys enough credit. They come in every day with a great attitude and work."
Komin netted a career-high 24 points and was nearly perfect from the field, shooting 9-for-10. He nailed all four of his 3-point attempts, including three in the second half. Komin also added four rebounds, three assists and two steals to his stat line.
While Komin handled the heavy lifting for much of the night in a game that featured eight lead changes and 11 ties, Abelman served as the closer. The redshirt junior team captain returned from a two-game absence and scored nine of the Astrojacks' final 11 points.
Abelman knocked down the eventual game-winner, a 3-pointer right in front of the NAU bench, with 1:44 remaining. His only triple of the night gave the Astrojacks a 75-72 lead. After Northern Colorado (11-10, 1-7 Big Sky) converted a pair of free throws to close to 75-74, Abelman calmly made both free throws on a 1-and-1 with 13.5 seconds remaining.
Abelman received help from
Kavon Bradford, who promptly stole Northern Colorado's inbound pass and proceeded to make both of his free throw attempts to give NAU a 79-74 lead with 9.8 seconds left. The Bears hit a 3-pointer of their own with 1.1 seconds to close the gap, but Abelman put the score out of reach with two final freebies.
"We know who we can be and seeing it tonight, it helps us turn the page," Abelman said. "We can do this every time we come out. We're going to try to go 1-0 each day and let everything else take care of itself."
Both offenses were clicking as NAU shot 59.2% for the game and Northern Colorado finished at 50.0% even from the floor. NAU was plus-8 at the free throw line, which helped the Astrojacks negate a 12-point Northern Colorado advantage behind the arc.
The Astrojacks also were plus-7 in the turnover column, leading to a 19-13 advantage of turnovers, which was crucial as the Bears held a significant rebounding advantage, 33-20. Northern Colorado grabbed 14 offensive rebounds to only four by NAU, but only managed a plus-4 edge in second chance points.
Karl Poom forced an early Northern Colorado timeout with back-to-back baskets to cap a 9-0 Astrojack run as NAU opened up a 15-9 lead. The Bears clawed their way back and retook a 27-26 lead with 5:37 left in the first half, but the teams were tied in the final minute before Bradford scored a contested jumper in the paint to put the 'Jacks ahead, 38-36, at halftime.
The teams traded blows in the second half, scoring at will at times, particularly behind the arc. Northern Colorado shot 7-for-11 from long distance and NAU was 6-for-7 in the final 20 minutes.
The Astrojacks appeared to have all the momentum, ripping off 11 straight points – including five by Komin and four by
Traivar Jackson – to snag their largest lead of the night, 62-54, with 7:37 to play. However, once again, Northern Colorado fought back and managed to tie the score at 70-70 with three minutes left.
That set the stage for Abelman's heroics as he scored nine of his 12 points down the stretch.
Jackson matched Abelman's 12 points, while also leading the team with five rebounds and five assists, the latter of which was a career-high.
Diego Campisano connected on all three of his 3-point attempts for nine points and NAU had six players with seven points or more.
"We're trying to be the best team in the Big Sky the rest of the way," Burcar said. "We have to have the correct mindset. All that we can control is today. We have high-character guys."
NAU will wrap its four-game homestand with a pair of games on Findlay Toyota Court at the Walkup Skydome next week. NAU hosts Eastern Washington and Idaho at 6 p.m. MST on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
Of note, on Thursday, Jan. 29, NAU will host a basketball doubleheader starting with the women's basketball game against Eastern Washington at 3 p.m. MST prior to the men's game. One ticket will be valid for both games and can be purchased at this
link.
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