By james art 
“With the excitement of our highest preseason ranking since 2015, it showed tonight with our crowd, I just want to send a special thank you to our fans, it helps our guys, and in basketball, having a sixth man in the crowd is the real deal,” head coach Shane Burkar said.
Trent McLaughlin began his final season with the Jacks, scoring 27 points, just four shy of his career high, while adding five steals and five rebounds. Returning to the court after a season injury, Carson Tout picked up where he left off, grabbing his first double-double of the year with 16 points and 12 boards.
“The work that all 14 guys on our team and our coaching staff put in, that preparation and hard work that we put into that game, it showed. I liked their discipline throughout, Trent had 27 points on 15 shots and shared the ball and I think that’s a good indication of the character we have on this team,” Burkar said.
Leading from start to finish, a 13-0 run would fuel the Lumberjacks offensive success as McLaughlin scored the first eight points of the night. Northern Arizona’s 44.7 field goal percentage in the first half was fueled by 19 points from McLaughlin and 10 from Ryan Abelman who made his first career start. Abelman finished the night 4-6 from the field and 50.0 percent from three-point range.
Holding the Buccaneers to 26.9 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from three in the first frame, the Jacks took a 52-23 lead into halftime, leading with 15 points off turnovers and 18 points in the paint.
Starting the second half with a bang, Towt grabbed a steal followed by a fast break dunk to set the tone again. NAU finished the night with 21 fast-break points, holding the Buccaneers to just six.
The Jacks closed out the win with 51.4 percent shooting, along with 10 3-pointers, while holding Park to 29.6 percent field goal shooting while Marquis McKinsey led the Buccaneers with 20 points, the only player on his team to score in double figures.
Dylan Baker, Ali Ragab, Monty Bowserand Lee Rickwood-Pitt all made their Lumberjack debuts tonight. Baker finished with seven points and four rebounds.
The Jacks will turn their attention to Friday night’s 6:00 PM MST game against Nelson (Arizona). To stay up to date with NAU Basketball, follow Jacks on X, Instagram and Facebook.