The Northern Arizona men’s basketball team was picked to finish seventh in the Big Sky preseason media poll, while the conference coaches had the Lumberjacks slated at ninth. Both polls were released Thursday night by the league office.
The Lumberjacks, who went 11-21 overall last year and 8-12 in conference play, enter their second season under coach Jack Murphy with three returning starters. DeWayne Russell, a 5-foot-11 guard, finished second on the team and seventh in the Big Sky in scoring last year as a freshman with an average of 14.1 points per game. Max Jacobsen, a 6-foot-8 forward and the lone senior on the squad, averaged 9.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in addition to blocking 15 shots. And Gaellan Bewernick, a 6-foot-6 forward, led the team in rebounds with and an average of 5.9 per game to go with an average of 6.0 points per game.
NAU will host Arizona Christian in an exhibition game on Wednesday, Oct. 30 before opening the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 9 at Texas-San Antonio. The Lumberjacks will not play at home until Saturday, Nov. 23, when they face San Diego Christian.
1. Weber State (31) 370
2. Montana (3) 322
3. North Dakota 308
4. Northern Colorado 251
5. Montana State 220
6. Eastern Washington 188
7. Northern Arizona 161
8. Sacramento State 140
9. Portland State 116
10. Southern Utah 92
11. Idaho State 65
1. Weber State (10) 100
2. North Dakota 86
3. Montana (1) 84
4. Northern Colorado 77
5. Eastern Washington 55
6. Montana State 54
7. Sacramento State 39
8. Portland State 38
9. Northern Arizona 32
10. Idaho State 22
11. Southern Utah 18
