MOSCOW, Idaho – The Idaho men's basketball team experienced a close loss to Northern Arizona on Saturday, concluding their weekend at home.

Julius Mims came out hot for the black and gold, putting the first points on the board in Idaho's favor by way of an alley-oop slam. Northern Arizona quickly made efforts to counter before redshirt freshman Kolton Mitchell put up a shot that sparked a series of three-pointers for Idaho to give them a seven-point lead.

The Lumberjacks managed to even the playing field in the ninth minute, tying the score at 15-15. However, a layup from Mitchell reestablished the Vandals' control and gave them the lead they carried throughout the remainder of the half. Tyler Mrus did not let himself go unseen, making a three in the last minute and bringing the score to 41-34 before an NAU prayer was answered from well beyond the arc to make it a four-point game at the break. 

The Vandals had a slow start to the second half, losing their edge over the Lumberjacks and suffering their first deficit of the game (43-47).  They were forced to step up defensively and saw two blocked shots in the last ten. 

Another three-point shot from Mitchell put the Vandals back in the game, narrowing the gap to just three points. Tensions rose in the ICCU Arena during the final five minutes as both teams kept trading buckets. Despite Idaho's efforts, a few timely daggers from the 'Jacks would end the game at 72-80 in favor of the visitors. 

Jack Payne led the Vandal offense in the nailbiter, putting up 20 points. Trailing behind was Mims with 16 and Mitchell with 15 points in the game. Mitchell had one of the best weekends by a freshman in recent memory with 40 total points and shooting 7-13 (54%) from three-point range in two games.. 

The loss puts an end to the Vandals' weekend at home and their stretch of four games in seven days dating back to the Eastern Washington win. Their next showing is set for Thursday, Jan.30 when Idaho will travel to Ogden to take on the Weber State Wildcats.