Cameron Jones scored 26 points in NAU's two-overtime win over Portland State.
Northern Arizona and Portland State played multiple overtimes for the second straight season at the Skydome. This time, however, it was Northern Arizona on the winning end of a thriller.
The Lumberjacks improved to 6-8 in conference and moved closer to clinching a bid in the Big Sky Conference postseason tournament with an 86-85 double overtime victory over the Vikings. Last season, Portland State won a four-overtime game over the Lumberjacks in Flagstaff.
In other men's action on Thursday, second-place Northern Colorado moved a step closer to clinching a first-round tournament bye with a 58-54 win over Eastern Washington. Montana State assured itself no worse than a fourth seed with an 80-74 victory over Sacramento State.
All three games came down to the wire, but none provided more drama than the NAU win. Cameron Jones scored 26 points, while freshman Gabe Rogers added a huge lift with 20 points and six assists.
Northern Arizona held a two-point lead late in the first overtime, but watched as Portland State quickly hit a basket to tie the game, and within the blink of an eye took the lead following a Northern Arizona turnover. NAU's Julian Olubuyi drove the floor with five seconds left, hitting a layup with .1 seconds remaining to tie the game. Olubuyi was fouled, but missed the free throw to send the game into a second OT.
Portland State had a chance to win the game on the final possession, but Dominic Waters' close-range shot missed. Waters finished with 29 points, but the nation's second-ranked free-throw shooter was just 4-of-9 from the free-throw line. Portland State missed 15 free throws, while NAU missed 12 from the stripe.
Portland State dropped to 5-8 in conference, but remained in sixth place. Northern Arizona is in position to clinch a spot in the postseason tournament with a win over Eastern Washington on Saturday.
Northern Colorado moved to 10-4 in conference with the win over the Eagles, who dropped to 4-9. The Bears' survived a poor shooting night and just four points from its bench. EWU took a 56-54 lead on a Mark Dunn 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining. Northern Colorado's Chris Kaba answered with a trey with 22 seconds remaining. Will Figures, who scored a game-high 23 points, iced the game with two free throws with five seconds to play.
Northern Colorado was without junior guard Devon Beitzel, who injured his foot late in last Saturday's loss to Weber State. Kaba, who replaced Beitzel in the starting lineup, finished with 14 points. Northern Colorado shot just 34.1 percent from the field.
In Bozeman, Montana State withstood a second-half Sacramento State rally to pull out an 80-74 win. MSU moved to 9-6 in conference, and will finish no worse than fourth. With a win over Montana next week, and some help, the Bobcats could still finish in second place and earn a first-round bye.
Will Bynum and Branden Johnson each scored 18 points for the Bobcats, who led by 13 at the half. Sacramento State made 9-of-12 3-pointers in the second half and stormed back to take a 72-70 lead with 1:51 to play. Montana State hit six free throws and Bynum made two layups in the final 1:29.
Freshman John Dickson scored 22 points and grabbed six rebounds.
For more on Friday's games, click on the links below:
Northern Arizona 86, Portland State 85, 2 OT | Stats
Montana State 80, Sacramento State 74 | Stats
Northern Colorado 58, Eastern Washington 54 | Stats