NAU can't hold on, suffers 10th straight loss

Collin Chiverton's 13 points paced four Eastern Washington players in double figures as the Eagles rallied to a 74-68 win over Northern Arizona Thursday night.

Cliff Ederaine added 13 rebounds, six assists and four steals for the Eagles (11-12 overall, 5-5 Big Sky), who won in Flagstaff for the first time in eight years.

Ephraim Ekanem led the Lumberjacks (5-18, 1-10) with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Northern Arizona led 32-29 at halftime and quickly went up by nine early in the second half, but the Lumberjacks went without a field goal for six-plus minutes midway through the second half, turning a four-point lead into a six-point deficit with seven minutes remaining.

Jeffrey Forbes' go-ahead 3-pointer put Eastern Washington up for good, 57-54, with 8:37 remaining.

Northern Arizona has now lost 10 consecutive games, which is its longest losing streak since dropping 10 in a row during the 1990-91 season.

“Losing is what it is,” said NAU interim coach Dave Brown. “We are real proud of the effort these men put forth. They gave great effort, but they broke down a little bit in the second half in the rebounding and the turnovers. We have to stay focused.”

Durrell Norman added 11 points off the bench for NAU, while freshman James Douglas scored 14 points with a career-high seven rebounds.

"We had a big emphasis in the post because they are big and physical,” said Norman. "Last game, we felt like we did not put our best foot forward, so we wanted to put our best foot forward.”

Junior Stallon Saldivar had 10 points and Michael Dunn added nine in the losing effort.
The Lumberjacks had 17 turnovers in the contest and went just 1 for 10 from 3-point range, 0 for 5 in the second half.