Men’s Basketball Loses in Big Sky Tournament

MISSOULA, Mont. – The Northern Arizona men’s basketball team was defeated 81-60 by Montana in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Tournament Saturday night at Dahlberg Arena.

NAU, the No. 5 seed in the tournament, finishes it season at 14-14 overall, dropping their third game of the season to Montana. The Grizzlies (20-9) will advance to the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament to be contested in Ogden, Utah. Weber State is the top seed and will play the lowest remaining seed. No. 6 Portland State and No. 3 Montana State met in Bozeman in the second quarterfinal on Saturday night.

Junior Cameron Jones led the Lumberjacks with team-best 21 points. He became the 25th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark in his career with a fade-away jump shot from the left baseline with 7:27 left in the second half.

Senior Nick Larson played his final game of his Lumberjacks career, scoring 11 points and grabbing seven rebounds. He played in his 116th career game, the fourth-best total in school history.

NAU fell behind by as many as 23 points in the second half but fought hard down the stretch.

The Lumberjacks were out-rebounded in the game 41-27 and made just 3-of-13 three-point attempts.

Anthony Johnson led Montana with 22 points and Will Cherry added 11 points.

The Grizzlies led the entire game after getting off to a quick start in the game, scoring the first seven points of the game. Cameron Jones led the Lumberjacks with 11 points in the first half. But NAU had nine turnovers in the half and did not have an attempt at the free throw line. They were also out-rebounded 18-10 by Montana over the first 20 minutes.

The Lumberjacks shot 52 percent over the first 20 minutes but shot only 1-for-6 from three-point land.

Photo By Glenn Junkert