Hot Three-Point Shooting Boosts NAU to Win Over Bobcats

Saturday, January 24

2:35 pm

Montana State University

1-64-15/ Big Sky

Northern Arizona

4-39-11/ Big Sky

Northern Arizona

Montana State

Michael Dison battles against NAU

Photo by: Ruth Shellenberg

1/24/2015 7:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

MSU loses 10-point second-half lead

By: Bill Lamberty

Northern Arizona hit 10 of its 15 three-point attempts, including back-to-back treys by Quinton Upshur in the last 3:11 of the game, to beat Montana State 71-64 in Bozeman on Saturday.

NAU's hot three-point shooting helped the Lumberjacks wipe out a 10-point Bobcat lead in the second half, and left the Bobcats feeling that one got away. "Yeah we did," MSU coach Brian Fish said. "No disrespect to (NAU), but we I thought we let one get away."

The process was drawn out. After Michael Dison's three-pointer with 15:42 to play gave the Cats a 42-32 lead, NAU began whittling away. Kris Yanku's layup cut the lead to eight, and he hit a free throw to narrow it to seven. After a Stephan Holm layup, Aaseem Dixon hit a three-pointer, Yanku made a layup and Gaellan Bewernick followed with a second-chance layup to trim it to two.

At the 8:10 mark, Yanku made a pair of free throws to give NAU a 52-51 lead, and the Cats would never play from in front again. Yanku, who shoots more free throws than any other player during Big Sky play, did considerable damage from the line. He knocked down seven of his eight charity tosses and scored 15 points in spite of going only 4-for-12 from the floor. He also grabbed eight boards and dished out 10 assists.

It was Yanku's backcourt-mate Quinton Upshur, quiet most of the night, who dealt daggers late. He hit back-to-back bombs around the three-minute mark, sandwiching a Stephan Holm triple, that allowed NAU to maintain a six-point lead. The Cats made only one of their last five shots, as the attempt to climb back into the game fell short.

"I really thought for about 32 or 33 minutes we were locked in and playing hard," Fish said. "Credit them, they came in and made it a 40-minute game."

The Bobcats used a switching man-to-man for most of the weekend, including Thursday's win over Southern Utah, and enjoyed success for times on Saturday. But Fish said a lack of defensive communication on key possessions late cost his team. "You've got to give something up (defensively), and I was willing to give up (penetration)," Fish said. "But we got sucked in and stepped off the shooter, and they made (three-pointers). We ended up giving up both penetration and (three-point) shots."

MSU senior guard Michael Dison led the Cats with 18 points, nailing four three-pointers. Montana State made 26 baskets on the game, and junior guard Marcus Colbert made (six) or assisted (eight) on more than half of them. He finished with 15 points. Eric Norman grabbed 10 points and blocked three shots.

The Cats fall to 4-15 overall and 1-6 in Big Sky play after the loss, while NAU is 9-11, 4-3. Senior forward Danny Robison said the game disappoints for the lost opportunity. "We were up 10 (in the second half) but they made a few changes and they hit a few shots. But we've got to fight it."