For the first time in 19 days, Northern Arizona (14-10, 5-6 Big Sky) hosted a game in the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, beating Montana State, 69-64, on Thursday.
With just 18 seconds remaining in the game and the score tied 64-all, Monty Bowser drained a key 3-pointer.
鈥淲e needed this game,鈥� Bowser said. 鈥滶very game at home is always important, so to take a shot like that and to help us win, it feels great.鈥�
Montana State (10-14, 5-6 Big Sky) regained possession of the ball after Bowser's throw, but Jabe Mullins missed his shot and Bowser rebounded.聽
Bowser finished the game with eight points to go with four assists and five rebounds. He shot 3 for 10 from the field, but Carson Towt passed to him anyway in the final seconds, trusting that he could hit the shot.
鈥淚t felt even better that [Towt] trusted to throw me the ball after I missed the shot on the same possession before,鈥� Bowser said. 鈥淪o that trust we have in each other is huge for us, and I feel like it will benefit us going forward.鈥�
The entire student section stood up in anticipation during the last few minutes of the contest.
Montana State went on a 10-0 scoring run across three minutes to reach a 60-60 tie with 4:14 left.
The fans clenched their fists and had their shoulders up to their ears as they waited for the buzzer to finally ring. The clock stopped six times within the last 18 seconds, four times from personal fouls and twice from timeouts, one from each team. Three personal fouls were called on various members of Montana State all within one second of each other. Another was called with 1.3 seconds remaining.
Lumberjacks head coach Shane Burcar said he was proud of his team and grateful to be back playing at the Skydome after weeks of travel.
鈥淎 lot of people don鈥檛 know this, but when you鈥檙e on the road for four games and you鈥檙e coming home to play 72 hours [later] 鈥� it鈥檚 a mental fight, and we sure did respond to that,鈥� Burcar said.
Trent McLaughlin had a game-high 20 points and six assists for the Lumberjacks, who snapped a two-game losing skid with the victory. Towt added 14 points and 17 rebounds, earning his 16th double-double this season and 23rd in his career. Four of those rebounds were offensive.
鈥淚t makes me feel great when the guys do good and when they feel good about themselves,鈥� Burcar said.
As a redshirt junior, Towt is the top rebounder on the team with 12.7 rebounds on average per game and 311 in total for the season. He is 34 rebounds away from the 1,000 mark and 78 away from breaking the all-time school record held by Dan Buttrum in 1963.
A month prior, while visiting Missoula to play Montana State for the first time, Towt had another double-double at 12 points and 17 rebounds. Northern Arizona lost that first meeting 58-53.聽
Burcar said one of the biggest strengths his team has is its offensive and defensive rebounding. The team averages 40 rebounds per game.
However, its shooting still needs improvement, according to the coach.
鈥淚f we can shoot the ball like we did tonight, the sky's the limit,鈥� Burcar said.
Northern Arizona finished with a 47% field goal percentage, going 27 for 57. Montana State's percentage was 38% at 22 for 58.
The Lumberjacks seamlessly passed to each other all night despite pressure from the Bobcats defense. McLaughlin credited the closeness and selfless nature of the team to completing those passes.
鈥淥ne of the big strengths of our team is being unselfish,鈥� McLaughlin said. 鈥淲e always try to make that extra pass, and I think that makes us harder to cover.鈥�
Northern Arizona will host Montana for a 6 p.m. game Saturday before hitting the road once more to take on Portland State and Sacramento State.