SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Northern Arizona continued to defy the odds on Saturday as it came away with the 78-73 win at Sacramento State in the second round of the College.com Insider Tournament.
Jordyn Martin scored a career-high 27 points and Quinton Upshur entered the 1,000-point club as the Lumberjacks won their second straight postseason game.
"To come back out in the second half and do what we did was great," Lumberjacks coach Jack Murphy said. Jordyn Martin was great tonight and Quinton Upshur performed nice as well. I'm so happy to be able to get this win tonight. We're not ready for our season to end, so we have to continue to work hard every day to keep our season alive."
Martin had 10 points in the first eight minutes of the first half. The forward showed great skills inside the paint rebounding and laying it in. Before the half would end, Martin would collect 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting.
The Lumberjacks led for the first 16 minutes, but a jumper by Mikh McKinney at the 3:31 mark gave Sacramento State its first lead of the game at 27-26. The Hornets went on an 11-2 run to end the first half giving the home team a 33-30 advantage heading into the locker room.
The Hornets started the second half 7 of 7 from the field to jump out to a 50-36 edge over the Lumberjacks. NAU then went on a 13-5 run to cut the Hornets' lead to 55-49. That run saw NAU shoot 80 percent from the floor choosing quality shots to get back in the game.
NAU never gave up and with good ball control the 'Jacks found themselves back in it. Back-to-back baskets by Upshur saw NAU tie the game at 68-All.
Upshur scored eight straight points giving NAU a 71-70 lead that it never let go. Great defense by NAU down the stretch was the ultimate key in the 'Jacks winning the game and advancing to the quarterfinals of the CIT.
NAU shot 78.3 percent in the second half to finish 54.7 percent for the game. Martin registered a career-high 27 points on 12-for-16 shooting. Upshur added 22 points, while Gaellan Bewernick chipped in 11 points.
McKinney and Dylan Garrity led Sacramento State with 18 points apiece. The Hornets shot 46.6 percent for the game and 76.5 percent from the free throw line.
