FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Montana's six-game winning streak was snapped on Thursday night when the Grizzlies fell to Northern Arizona, 57-56.
The loss was Travis DeCuire's first to the Lumberjacks in his tenure as UM's head coach. The Griz previously had not lost to NAU since 2014 and were 10-0 under DeCuire.
Montana held a seven-point lead with just over three minutes left in the game but Northern Arizona used an 8-0 run to close the game and seal the victory over the Griz.
Bernie Andre led the Lumberjacks with 20 points while Cam Shelton added 15 points and nine rebounds. Jared Samuelson led Montana with 19 points while Kendal Manuel tallied 16.
Montana missed two front ends of one-and-one free throw opportunities in the final 30 seconds. That proved to be the difference as Shelton drew a foul on the other end after the second miss with 2.2 seconds to play and knocked down both of his chances at the stripe to give the Lumberjacks the lead, and ultimately, the win.
Sayeed Pridgett finished with eight points which snapped a 41-game streak of double-figure performances for the senior, which dated back to February of 2019.
The Griz fell to 17-11 overall and 13-4 in Big Sky Conference play which puts them in a three-way tie for first with Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado. Both the Bears and Eagles won on Thursday.
Montana next travels to Sac State where the Griz will take on the Hornets on Saturday.
