FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Northern Arizona got 14 second-half points from Mike Green and the Lumberjacks rallied for a 68-67 victory over North Dakota in men's Big Sky basketball action Saturday. Green finished with a team-high 17 points off the bench and went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc after halftime to lift the Lumberjacks (6-17, 3-6 BSC) to its second straight league win.
UND (12-8; 7-3 BSC) snapped a three-game winning streak with the one-point loss, but could not pull out another dramatic road victory this week in league play.
Sophomore Geno Crandall scored a game-high 21 points and had a chance at the game-winning layup in the closing seconds, but his attempt rolled off the rim. The Fighting Hawks had a couple of off-balanced putbacks before the horn sounded, but both of those were off the mark as well.
Junior Drick Bernstine added 13 points and senior Quinton Hooker scored all 11 of his points after the halftime.
UND led 34-30 at the break, but shot just 34 percent from the field in the second half after shooting 59 percent in the opening 20 minutes. Crandall was the catalyst in the first half, scoring 14 of his points before the break on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor.
NAU also dominated the glass, holding a 43-27 edge, including an 18-6 advantage on the offensive glass. Those extra possessions were turned into 17 points by the home team.
“I thought we really battled and played hard, but we just didn't rebound,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “It came down to that. It's that simple. I thought we defended at a high level on that initial thrust, but you have to able to rebound against bigger teams and come up with some loose balls in traffic.”
Green gave NAU its largest lead of the game at 65-61 with his third trey of the half with 3:33 to play, but Crandall and Hooker would reel off five quick points to regain the lead at 66-65.
It would be a back-and-forth affair from there with Green making another deep triple with just over a minute to play to push NAU back in the lead at 68-66. Bernstine made one of two on a trip to the foul line after being fouled on a defensive rebound with .
NAU would then miss the front end of a one-and-one, setting up UND's chance to escape with the victory with seven seconds to play.
UND overcame 11 first-half turnovers by turning nine NAU miscues into 14 points. The Fighting Hawks limited their turnovers to just five in the second half, while forcing another 10 by the Lumberjacks.
UND returns home for a three-game Big Sky homestand, but only one of those games will take place next week. The Fighting Hawks take on their league travel partner Northern Colorado next Saturday at 2:05 p.m. CT.
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