Weber State University Athletics

Monday, February 27
Flagstaff, AZ
6:00 p.m.

Weber State University

17-14,12-6Big Sky

90
at
89

Northern Arizona

9-22,5-13Big Sky

1st quarter1
2nd quarter2
OT 1 quarterOT 1
FinalF
Weber St.
37
39
14
90
Northern Ariz.
39
37
13
89

'Cats close out regular season with wild 90-89 overtime win at NAU

2/27/2023 9:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

WSU made 12 3-pointers and Steven Verplancken and Dillon Jones each surpassed 20 points in the win.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Weber State closed out the regular season with a wild 90-89 overtime win at Northern Arizona Monday night at the Walkup Skydome. 

Four Wildcats scored in double figures in the win as the 'Cats closed the regular season winning four of their last five games. 

The 'Cats close the regular season at 17-14 overall and 12-6 in Big Sky play. The game didn't matter in the standings as WSU had already clinched the third seed in this week's Big Sky Tournament in Boise, Idaho. 

Weber State will take on No. 6 seed Sacramento State on Monday, March 6 at 8 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the tournament. 

The game saw 11 lead changes and seven ties. 

NAU jumped you to an 11-point lead at 29-18 with 7:29 to play in the first half, when Weber State responded with a 14-0 run that included four-straight 3-pointers to give the 'Cats a 32-29 lead. 

The Lumberjacks closed the first half on a 10-5 run and led 39-37 at halftime. 

Weber State jumped out to a nine-point lead at 54-45 with 14:26 to play. The 'Cats led by six at 60-54 when NAU went on an 8-0 run and regained the lead. 

The Wildcats led by five with 1:00 to play when NAU closed regulation on a 7-2 run to force overtime. NAU's Liam Lloyd made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game 76-76 at the end of regulation. 

Weber State scored the first five points of overtime and later led by six with 3:13 to play when NAU responded with an 8-1 run and took a 85-84 lead with 32 seconds remaining. 

The 'Cats made four free throws in the final 18 seconds and NAU's Jalen Cone missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to clinch the win for the Wildcats. 

Steven Verplancken scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Wildcats. He was 8 fo 15 from the field, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range and was 6 of 6 from the line, to go along with four rebounds and four assists. 

Dillon Jones posted his 19th double-double of the season with 24 points and 11 rebounds, in addition to four assists, and played all 45 minutes. He made his first seven shots and finished the game 9 of 10 from the field, including 3 of 4 from the free throw line. 

Zahir Porter tied his season-high with 15 points with two 3-pointers and KJ Cunningham added 11 points with three 3-pointers and dished out a season-high five assists. 

Freshman Handje Tamba had career-highs of six points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes of action. 

The Wildcats shot 56 percent from the field and held NAU to 42 percent. WSU tied its season-high with 12 3-pointers and finished 12 of 25. 

NAU won the rebounding margin 43-37 and had 22 second-chance points. 

The conference tournament begins on Saturday, March 4 at the Idaho Central Arena in Boise. 



 

Team Stats

Weber
NAU
FG%
.561
.416
3FG%
.480
.350
FT%
.737
.550
RB
37
43
TO
15
10
STL
5
10

Game Leaders

Pts
26
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
6
Pts
24
FGM
9
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0

Players Mentioned

G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
G
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