Montana State had no answer for Jordyn Martin and Northern Arizona’s front line.
Martin, NAU’s 6-foot-8 senior center, feasted in the paint and on the glass, dominating whoever the Bobcats threw at him for the duration of the game in Flagstaff. Martin scored 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds as NAU posted a 69-63 win, its fourth straight at Walkup Skydome.
Martin had four offensive rebounds as NAU grabbed 11 offensive boards and scored 20 second-chance points against MSU’s overmatched and undersized front line. NAU true freshman Chris Bowling had a career night, scoring 12 points and grabbing eight rebounds while dishing out five assists.
Northern Arizona sophomore Marcus DeBerry, pictured here at the Big Sky Tournament last spring/ by Brooks Nuanez
“They hurt us on the boards,” said Bobcat coach Brian Fish. “Martin had 23 (points) and 14 (rebounds), we couldn’t get him off (the boards). They were 15-1 in the first half on second-chance points. We gave ourselves a chance in the second half, we got stops and got ourselves into it.”
NAU head coach Jack Murphy tasked 6-5 lanky sophomore guard Marcus DeBerry with guarding Montana State sophomore star Tyler Hall. Hall entered the game as the Big Sky’s leading scorer, seventh in the nation. With six NBA scouts in attendance, DeBerry — with trapping help from whatever NAU defender was closest — held Hall to 13 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Hall finished 2-of-8 from beyond the arc and notched just two assists and one rebound in 36 minutes. DeBerry also off-set Hall by scoring 14 points despite 4-of-16 shooting himself.
After Montana State scored the first four points of the game, NAU answered with 10 straight on a run that reached 15-2. The Cats would never lead again. Holding a 19-15 lead with 8:48 to play before halftime, Northern Arizona scored eight straight points to seize control for good. Martin triggered the run with a pair of free throws, and added a layup. The Lumberjacks led 34-22 at the intermission, with 15 of those points coming on second-chance possessions.
“We just had too many turnovers,” Fish said. “We had 11 turnovers in the first half, which took away the chance for us to get baskets and led us to get our heads down. We’ve just got to take care of the ball. We’ve had games where we didn’t have 11 turnovers in the game, we had 11 turnovers in the first half (on Thursday).”
MSU opened the second half on an 8-2 run, eventually trimming the NAU lead to 47-42 on a Devonte Klines triple on which he was fouled with 11:34 to play. Klines missed the ensuing free throw.
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NAU’s 12-6 run pushed the lead back to double-digits. The Cats continued to battle, scoring eight straight over a minute-and-a-half to trim the lead to 66-63 on a Quinton Everett layup with nine seconds remaining. NAU made three free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.
Sam Neumann led the Bobcats with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Everett had 11.
Montana State falls to 11-14 on the season, 6-6 in Big Sky play, while NAU is 7-18, 4-8. MSU plays at Southern Utah on Saturday afternoon at 2 pm.
