Boise, ID – Luke Avdalovic scored a career-high 26 points and led a three-point barrage for Northern Arizona as the Lumberjacks knocked Portland State out of the Big Sky Tournament, 77-66, on Wednesday at Idaho Central Arena.
 
The 'Jacks made 27-46 shots from the field (.587) and a blistering 12-16 from three-point range (.750). Avdalovic hit 9-15, including 7-10 from distance.
 
For the Vikings, senior forward Khalid Thomas scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the team. Thomas was 7-13 from the field and 4-9 from distance. Otherwise, Portland State couldn't match NAU's shooting. The Vikings finished at 19-56 from the field (.339), and 6-30 from three-point range (.200).
 
Portland State's pandemic-shortened season concludes with a 9-13 record. Northern Arizona improved to 6-15 and will move on to play Eastern Washington on Thursday evening in a quarterfinal round game.
 
"We're really disappointed with the outcome. We had had a pretty good run the last six or seven weeks, but we ran into a team that shot the heck out of the basketball." said Viking Coach Barret Peery. "Give NAU a lot of credit. Our alertness and ability to be locked into Avdalovic, we didn't have that. We let him get rolling and he is one of the premier shooters in the league."
 
Intensity was in short supply around the arena as the teams inside the building used it up in the opening minutes of the game. It was Northern Arizona that took that energy and ran with it.
 
The Lumberjacks found their shooting touch quickly, hitting 10-14 shots in the opening nine minutes, 6-6 were three-pointers, and they led 27-11.
 
By halftime, the 'Jacks had made 8-9 three-point field goals – more than their season average of 6.2 per game. Overall, NAU shot 16-25 from the field in the half (.640). Ironically, point guard Cameron Shelton, who leads the Big Sky in scoring at 20.2 points per game, was held scoreless at 0-4 with five turnovers. Avdalovic was 5-6 from the field, with a perfect 4-4 from distance and 15 points.
 
PSU trimmed the lead nine on two occasions but struggled from the field at 7-26 (.269). They found a friend at the free throw line, making 12-13, but still went into halftime trailing 44-27. James Scott had 10 points at the break.
 
NAU continued its torrid shooting pace in the second half and the Vikings couldn't find their offensive footing.
 
Thomas hit four three-pointers down the stretch for PSU. His fourth came with three minutes to play and pulled the Vikings within 73-60. But that was as close as they would get until Jaden Nielsen-Skinner made three free throws with four seconds to play.
 
Peery saw a lot of good things in the way he likes his team to play, but knew the shooting deficiency was too much to overcome.
 
"If you had told me we would go 22-26 from the free throw line, get 11 offensive rebounds and turn them over 19 times, I would have told you we had a good chance to win. But we just didn't shoot the ball well," he said.
 
Portland State was only able to convert those 19 NAU turnovers into 11 points on the other end.
 
GAME NOTES: Scott finished with 16 points and five rebounds for the Vikings… this game marked the first time PSU has ever last a first-round matchup (3-1). The program is 12-15 all-time in Big Sky Tournament games, having won titles in 2008 and 2009.