The NAU men’s basketball team finished its regular season with losses on the road to Weber State and Idaho State last weekend. The Lumberjacks failed to advance to the Big Sky Conference postseason for the first time in four years, and only the second time under head coach Mike Adras’ 10-year tenure.

“Our record was not good this year,” Adras said. “I’ll be the first to admit that. But this group of guys did some amazing things this year and accomplished many things.”

On Feb. 26 the Weber State Wildcats took care of the Lumberjacks, 70-51 to clinch the Big Sky regular season title on their home court in Ogden, Utah.

NAU sophomore forward Shane Johannsen scored a career-high 21 points on 9-10 shooting and a game-high seven rebounds against the Wildcats. The Lumberjacks went 0-10 from three-point range and never managed to gain the lead. Senior forward Zarko Comagic added nine points and senior guard Jermaine Bishop finished with eight points.

The loss at Weber State officially eliminated NAU from postseason play with one game left in the regular season.

The Lumberjacks’ last game of the season pitted the squad against the Idaho State Bobcats on Feb. 28 in Pocatello, Idaho. 

Everything looked great for NAU to begin the game as they took an early seven-point lead, but Idaho State made a run of their own. With the game tied at 22, the Bobcats went on a 15-0 run. NAU did not score after the 7:25 mark in the first half.

The Lumberjacks never decreased the lead from then on and were down by as many as 27 in the second half. NAU eventually lost their season finale, 71-49.

“We had a hard time scoring tonight,” Adras said. “It’s an unfortunate loss, but it was an emotional Senior Night for Idaho State and they played well. They were better than us tonight, and that is the bottom line.”

Freshman center Josh Lepley led the Lumberjacks with a career-high 18 points. 

NAU ended its season with a 5-11 conference record and an 8-19 record overall. This was the first season in which Adras did not achieve a double-digit win total on the year. NAU’s eighth-place finish in conference is the worst finish of his head coaching career at the school.

“We could have done better as a team,” Bishop said. “Losing three seniors (senior guards Josh Wilson, Matt Johnson and Jermaine Calvin) at the end of the season really hurt us, but I felt we played well with the players we had.”

In 2005-06, just one season after not reaching the Big Sky playoffs in the 2004-05 season, the Lumberjacks made an appearance in the NIT, so there is hope for the future.

“The future is promising,” said sophomore guard Cameron Jones. “If we continue to work hard and rebuild we are going to have a lot of success in the next few years.”

Six players will return for NAU next season: sophomore guard Shayar Lee, sophomore center Josh Lepley, sophomore forward Eric House, junior guard Cameron Jones, junior forward Shane Johannsen, and the lone senior on the squad, forward Nick Larson. They will also introduce redshirt transfer Eric Platt and redshirt freshmen guards Gabe Rogers and Luis Flores.

“The young guys really stepped up this year,” Bishop said. “They will be good in the upcoming years. I just wish I could play one more year with them.”