Feb. 1, 2007
Final Stats
Pocatello, ID --- In a game that pretty much had everything a fan could want, Stephen Sir, one of the greatest three-point shooters in NCAA history, drained two big threes in the final two minutes of the second overtime as Northern Arizona scored 18 points in the second overtime, giving the Lumberjacks a wild 102-98 win over Idaho State, sending the Bengals to their fourth straight loss, and third straight on their current four game home stand.
The Bengals were led on the sidelines by assistant coach Steve Swanson, who took over for head coach Joe O'Brien while he sat out a one-game suspension for comments regarding officiating after ISU's game on Saturday against Portland State.
The game looked like it was never even going to get to one overtime, let alone two, as a Kyle Landry hit a pair of free throws with 2:20 left to give NAU (12-10, 7-4) what looked like an insurmountable nine-point lead at 75-66, but the Bengals stormed back. First, Matt Stucki, who led the Bengals (10-12, 5-4) with 21 points, tipped in a three-point miss by David Schroeder, and then Stucki had a tremendous block at the other end, leading to a three by Austin Kilpatrick to make it 75-71. Tyrone Bazy made one of two free throws with 1:24 left (one of only two misses at the line all night by the Lumberjacks) to make it 76-71. John Ofoegbu scored an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the lead to 76-74, and after a steal by Kilpatrick, Akbar Abdul-Ahad tied the game with 42.5 left.
NAU had a chance, but Rueben Boykin lost the ball out of bounds, and Abdul-Ahad just missed a game-winning three to send it to overtime.
In the first overtime, the teams traded baskets and free throws with no one ever leading by more then two. Logan Kinghorn hit a pair of free throws with 1:50 left to give ISU an 84-82 lead, but Tyrone Bazy's crazy floater hit nothing but net to tie it with 1:19 left. Neither team got a good look the rest of the way, although NAU caught a break after a late miss by ISU. Bazy looked to fly out of bounds with 1.0 left, but NAU called timeout, and Josh Wilson's 55-footer hit the back iron and bounded away.
No one led by more then two in the overtimes until Sir's first three gave NAU a 91-88 lead. Later up two with six on the shot clock and ISU in desperate need of a stop, Sir drained a long three despite good defense from Kilpatrick, and that basically was the game, although Stucki's three with 2.5 left cut it to 100-98.
That the score got to 200 combined points was a product of 55 free throws, with both teams hitting 47 of them, and the overtimes, with NAU scoring 26 in both, including 18 in the second overtime.
The Bengals had a season-high six players in double-figures, led by Stucki's 21. Kilpatrick had a career-high 20, including a Holt Arena record-tying six, and Logan Kinghorn had 18, including a perfect 8-for-8 from the line. Abdul-Ahad had 12, and John Ofoegbu and David Schroeder each had 10. Schroeder who entered the game ranked 21st nationally in percentage of minutes played, played a season-low 25, fouling out with 1:24 left. Schroeder, who was called for a touch foul with 25 seconds left against Portland State, giving the Vikings the eventual winning points, certainly didn't receive nearly the same treatment, getting whistled for three offensive fouls in fouling out for the first time this season.
Overall, it was a tale of two halved, with just 69 combined points in the first half, and 83 in the second, and 48 in 10 minutes of overtime. The teams shot just four free throws in the first half, but combined with overtime, shot 51 free throws after the intermission. NAU made the most of it, going 24-for-26 overall, and 10-for-10 in overtime. Idaho State also shot well, going 23-of-29, a .793 clip.
For NAU, Tyrone Bazy had 25 off the bench, and Boykin added 22. Sir had 19, also off the bench (the Lumberjacks had 52 bench points), and Nathan Geiser had 16.
The Bengals, who are now in a three-way tie for fourth place with Montana and Montana State, are just one loss behind first place Weber State, who is 8-3. Idaho State will look to end their four-game losing streak on Saturday night when they take on Sacramento State at 7:05 pm in Holt Arena. Northern Arizona heads to Ogden to battle Weber State, and they can tie for first with a win.
NOTES: John Ofoegbu had six blocks, a career-high, and ISU had 10 overall ... Abdul-Ahad had eight assists, and Bazy for NAU was in triple-double territory with 25 points, seven boards, and seven dishes ... the game featured 12 tieds and 10 lead changes ... the 98 points was ISU's highest total this season ... the Bengals are now 0-3 this season in overtime, and they've lost seven of their last eight OT games ... ISU is also now 7-4 in double-overtime all-time ... Akbar Abdul-Ahad, who is fourth nationally in percentage of minutes played per game, played all 50 minutes ... the game was the ninth time the two club went to overtime, with NAU leading 7-2.
