GREELEY, Colo.—Devon Beitzel scored 23 points and made two free throws with 8.6 seconds remaining as Northern Colorado moved 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 had 24 points to become the all-time scoring leader for Northern Arizona (17-11, 8-7) with 1,563 points.
Beitzel’s 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.
Jones became the Northern Arizona scoring leader with 9:17 left in the second half, when he hit a 3-pointer that moved him past Kelly Golob (1,550 points).
The Bears appeared to have the game under control on Beitzel’s 3-pointer that gave Northern Colorado a 59-51 edge 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.
