GREELEY — Devon Beitzel scored 25 points to lead Northern Colorado to a 84-75 victory over Weber State on Thursday night.
Taylor Montgomery added a career-high 19 points and Will Figures had 14 for Northern Colorado (14-3, 3-1 Big Sky). Figures became just the third player in school history to score 1,000 points in Division I and the 13th overall.
The Bears are off to their best start since beginning 17-2 in 1966-67.
Damian Lillard led Weber State (9-7, 3-1) with 15 points The Wildcats won 15 straight regular-season conference games and 10 straight conference road victories before the loss.
Nick Hansen’s 3-pointer and two free throws by Lillard got the Wildcats to within 52-47 early in the second half. The Bears got the lead back to 60-47 with Figures and Beitzel contributing two free throws each as part of an 8-0 run.
Bullinger’s layup and basket cut it to 60-50 with 11:38 remaining, but Northern Colorado answered with a 14-2 run to make it 74-52 with 7:18 left. Darin Mahoney’s two free throws got Weber State to within 81-67 with 2:39 left when the Bears cleared the bench.
Beitzel hit 3-pointers and had 20 points in the first half to help the Bears lead 42-34 at halftime.
Figures reached 1,000 points with 12:33 left in the first half, and moments later Elliott Lloyd’s 3-pointer put Northern Colorado up 28-12. Weber State closed the gap to eight as Franklin Session and Hansen made a free throw each in the last 44 seconds of the half.
