GREELEY, Colo. (February 21, 2026) – Chris Komin and Brock Wisne traded blows all night long, but in the end, Wisne and Northern Colorado prevailed for a 78-77 victory over the Northern Arizona men's basketball team.
Both Wisne and Komin registered career-best performances, with Wisne scoring 38 points to lead the Bears to their seventh straight victory. Komin exploded for 34 points to nearly push the Lumberjacks past the Bears on the road.
Northern Colorado sits at 18-10 overall and 8-7 in conference following its win Saturday night, while NAU fell to 10-18 overall and 4-11 in league play.
"We're getting better every single night," said head coach
Shane Burcar. "To come in here with an opportunity to win says a lot about our players and our coaching staff. Games like these hurt though when you have a chance to win it at the end. Give a credit to our guys though for battling and having a shot to win it on the road."
Komin, who scored 24 points against Northern Colorado the first time these teams met last month, shattered his previous career-best with his first career 30-point game. Komin shot 10-of-19 from the floor and made 12-of-13 at the charity stripe. In two games this season against Northern Colorado, Komin scored 58 points.
After
Diego Campisano drew a charge on Wisne with 21.5 seconds left, the Lumberjacks put the ball in Komin's hands for the potential game-winner. However, Komin's turnaround jumper in the paint was off the mark, allowing Northern Colorado to narrowly escape with the win.
"I thought Chris was going to knock that down," Burcar said. "We were going for the win at the end and I wouldn't change that. Chris was unbelievable tonight and played every second of the game. We put the ball in his hands and he got a good shot off. I told him in the locker room, next time, that goes in."
The Bears led by as much as 10 midway through the second half and by nine, 77-68, with 3:45 remaining, but the Lumberjacks were not deterred as they mounted one final rally.
Ryan Abelman made the first of two 3-pointers down the stretch and
Traivar Jackson followed with an and-1 to pull NAU within 77-74 with 1:14 left.
Wisne split a pair at the line on the ensuing trip before Abelman drilled another trey to cut Northern Colorado's lead to 78-77. Although NAU came up short, the 'Jacks closed the game on a 9-1 run and held the Bears to a single field goal in the final five minutes.
NAU trailed for much of the first half, but did manage to snag a 28-24 advantage with eight minutes until halftime following a corner triple by Campisano.
An 8-0 Northern Colorado run forced an NAU timeout down 41-32, but the Lumberjacks quickly found a response. Buoyed by a pair of steals, Komin capped a 9-0 NAU surge with a 3-pointer to even the score at 41-41.
The Lumberjacks' run towards the end of the first half was one of a number of times that they refused to give in throughout the night. After NAU went into the halftime down, 43-41, Northern Colorado's lead ballooned to 66-56 only for Komin to lead the 'Jacks back by scoring eight consecutive points during a 10-2 run that brought NAU back to 68-66.
Northern Colorado shot 53.7% from the field and outrebounded NAU, 33-30. NAU shot 45.5% on the night, but only 35.7% in the second half. The Lumberjacks held a massive 15-4 advantage in points off turnovers, committing only seven total turnovers.
Behind Komin, who added four rebounds and a career-high tying four steals to his stat line, NAU had a trio of players (Jackson, Campisano, Abelman) who scored 10 points apiece. Abelman led the team with six rebounds, while Jackson had a pair of blocks.
NAU will head back on the road next week to face Eastern Washington and Idaho on Thursday and Saturday respectively.
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