NAU men's basketball (18-16, 8-10 Big Sky) fell in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational on Sunday afternoon to the Queens Royals (20-14, 11-7 ASUN) in an 85-78 final at the Ocean Center.
"These guys will always be my guys, and we're going to be a part of NAU basketball history forever. I've been gifted with these players, I love them and it has been a special year with them," head coach Shane Burcar said.
To start the contest, Ryan Abelman accounted for all eight of the Lumberjacks' points by the first media timeout as NAU trailed the Royals 11-8 early on. As a contrast to what the Jacks were pushing offensively, the Royals' first 11 points were spread between all five players on the floor.
Back-to-back dunks from Carson Towt and Jayden Jackson followed by a second-chance three-point jumper from Trent McLaughlin paved the way for the Lumberjacks' first lead of the game at the 12:52 mark, 17-15. Coming out of a scoreless three-minute stretch for Northern Arizona, the Jacks hit three consecutive shots to trail 36-35 with 4:28 remaining in the first frame.
The Lumberjacks trailed 45-41 at the half led by Abelman's 11 points, followed closely by nine from McLaughlin and eight from Jackson. Northern Arizona shot 54.5% from the field on 33 attempts, going 5 of 11 from three-point range as well. The Royals outrebounded the Jacks 18-9 in the first half, while 24 of Northern Arizona's 41 points were accounted for inside the paint.
Queens stretched the lead by the first stoppage of the second half, forcing the Jacks to take a timeout with 16:08 on the clock following a triple from Chris Ashby to push the Royals advantage to 54-45. Coming out of the timeout, Queens picked up where they left off with a 6-0 run while Northern Arizona went scoreless for nearly three minutes on the floor.
The Royals outscored the Jacks 28-11 through the first 11 minutes of the second half, shooting 63.6% on shots from beyond the arc and hitting seven triples.
Northern Arizona began to find their offensive spark, hitting 5 of 5 field goals in a three-minute span to cut the lead to 76-62 with 5:42 remaining. The Jacks then went on a 6-0 run while Queens went scoreless for three-and-a-half minutes, making it a 10-point game with the Royals holding a 78-68 advantage. Although Northern Arizona eventually cut the lead to six, three NAU turnovers in the final minute and a half secured the Royals victory.
Towt secured his 20th double-double of the season against the Royals, putting up 22 points and adding 13 rebounds, which set a new single-season rebounding record for the Big Sky Conference with 423 boards. Jackson led all scorers with a game-high 23 points, going 10 for 15 from the field and 2 for 3 on triples. McLaughlin and Abelman rounded out NAU's double-digit scorers with 15 and 11, respectively.
Northern Arizona shot 46.7% from the field for the game (35 for 75) and 33.3% from three (7 for 21), while taking just two free throws and making one. Queens ended the night at 55.9% from the field (33 for 59) and a blistering 54.5% from deep (12 for 22), going 7 for 11 from the charity stripe.
The Lumberjacks lost the rebounding battle 36 to 32, but had just seven turnovers to Queens' 13.