Three must-win games, three decisive victories.
The NAU men's basketball team completed the trifecta this week by beating Montana 70-53 on Saturday night at the Rolle Activity Center. After defeating Big Sky Conference leader Northern Colorado and Montana State days earlier, the Lumberjacks won three straight games against teams above them in the Big Sky Conference standings.
"The emotion keeps getting higher and higher," sophomore point guard Stallon Saldivar said. "We're banging on walls. We're just loving it."
Each win became that much sweeter for the Jacks (14-8 overall, 6-4 Big Sky) and coach Mike Adras, who moved into third place all-time in Big Sky victories with his 96th conference win.
"When I'm old and gray in a rocking chair, I'm going to remember this week of Lumberjack basketball," Adras said. "I'm so proud of what these guys did this week. To play three teams ahead of you in the standings and to play them the way we did was just outstanding. I'll have these DVDs for a long, long time."
The Jacks built an early lead in the first half and sustained it, holding a 34-27 edge at halftime. The Griz came out with a short run of their own to bring the score within four, but that's as close as they got the rest of the night. The Jacks would go on a 15-0 run -- as Eric Platt, Cameron Jones and Gabe Rogers each made a three -- that extended their lead to 57-38 and put the game out of reach.
"When they made a run, we had an answer," Adras said.
For the third straight game, the NAU defense helped spur the victory as the Jacks held yet another opponent below its season scoring average.
"I think this is exactly where we want to be," Jones said. "We're holding teams to low-percentage shooting. I think we gave up 80 to (Montana) last time. Defensively, we're going great."
Despite being dwarfed by some of the Grizzlies' post players, NAU outrebounded Montana 33-26. Durrell Norman, who's listed at 6 feet, 4 inches, had five offensive rebounds, while the Griz had seven as a team. He also guarded 7-footer Derek Selvig for much of the night and kept him from scoring easy buckets. Instead, Selvig had Montana's only two 3-pointers while they were 2 of 12 from long distance as a team.
Over the past three games, NAU has held oppponents to an average of 49.3 points.
"The intensity and the defensive execution and the understanding of what we're trying to do is unbelievable right now," Adras said.
Jones led the Jacks with 17 points while Platt had 14 and was 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Shane Johanssen had 12 points and Saldivar added 8 points, 11 assists and was in a three-way tie for the team lead with six rebounds.
The Jacks shot 50.8 percent as a team, including 50 percent from long range, and converted 22 points off turnovers to the Grizzlies' eight.
Brian Qvale, Montana's 6-foot-11 center, led the Griz with 17 points and eight rebounds as he and his teammates were without leading scorer Will Cherry, who suffered an injury against Weber State on Thursday.
The games next week don't get any less important as the Jacks take on the Wildcats, who also moved into third place with a 78-58 win over Montana State, on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. NAU then plays at Idaho State on Saturday before returning home to face Eastern Washington on Feb. 16.
NAU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Montana 84, NAU 61
NAU women's basketball missed its sweep of Montana with a loss in Dhalberg Arena. The Lumberjacks defeated the Lady Griz at home on Jan. 13, 64-60.
NAU (7-15, 2-7 Big Sky) completed its three-game road trip on Saturday going 0-3 during that stretch and falling to 1-9 on the road ruding the 2010-11 season.
The Jacks were down 16 points at the break after shooting 30 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. NAU came out and hit 43 percent in the second half but allowed Montana to shoot 46 percent in the first half, 54 in the second, and 50 percent for the game.
The women finished with three players in double figures led by Amy Patton's 15 points off the bench. Tiffany Amos and Trinidee Trice finished with 10 points a piece to close out the Lumberjacks' in double digits.
Jacob May can be reached at jmay@azdailysun.com or 556-2257.
