GREELEY — Devon Beitzel’s 23 points, including two free throws with 8.6 seconds remaining, helped Northern Colorado move into first place in the Big Sky Conference with a 72-71 victory over Northern Arizona on Saturday night.
The Bears (17-10, 11-3) are percentage points ahead of Montana, which lost 59-55 in overtime at Eastern Washington.
Neal Kingman added 17 points for Northern Colorado, which is 11-0 at home.
Cameron Jones scored 24 points and became the all-time scoring leader for Northern Arizona (17-11, 8-7) with 1,563 points in his career.
Beitzel’s big free throws made the score 72-69.
Stallon Saldivar made two free throws for Northern Arizona, and the Lumberjacks got the ball back with 5.3 seconds left after Beitzel, a 91 percent free-throw shooter, returned to the line and missed both attempts. Jones missed a last-gasp shot from 35 feet.
The Bears appeared to have the game under control on Beitzel’s 3-pointer that gave Northern Colorado a 59-51 lead with 8:28 remaining. But Northern Arizona got four points from Gabe Rogers, who finished with 24 points, in a 10-0 run to move ahead 61-59.
The Lumberjacks led 67-62 on a 3-pointer by Jones, but Beitzel gave the Bears the lead for good, 70-69, with two free throws with 54 seconds left.
NORTHERN ARIZONA (17-11, 8-7 BIG SKY)
Johannsen 1-2 4-6 6, C. Jones 10-23 2-2 24, Rogers 10-16 2-2 27, Saldivar 0-3 2-2 2, Norman 0-2 0-0 0, Dunn 0-0 0-0 0, D. Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Olubuyi 1-1 0-0 2, Platt 4-5 0-0 10, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Lepley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-52 10-12 71.
NORTHERN COLORADO (17-10, 11-3)
Kaba 4-6 2-2 12, Kingman 6-14 2-2 17, Montgomery 2-6 2-6 6, Lloyd 1-6 1-2 4, Beitzel 6-19 8-11 23, Addo 0-4 0-0 0, Garnica 3-4 2-2 8, Unruh 0-1 0-0 0, Proctor 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 23-62 17-25 72.
Halftime — N. Colorado 35-34. 3-point goals — N. Arizona 9-21 (Rogers 5-10, Platt 2-3, C. Jones 2-7, Saldivar 0-1). N. Colorado 9-26 (Kingman 3-7, Beitzel 3-9, Kaba 2-3, Lloyd 1-5, Garnica 0-1, Unruh 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — N. Arizona 39 (Johannsen 9), N. Colorado 29 (Kaba 6). Assists — N. Arizona 17 (Saldivar 5), N. Colorado 14 (Kaba 4). Total fouls — N. Arizona 20, N. Colorado 15. A — 2,755.
