Dec. 20, 2007

Box Score |  AP Action Photos 

Logan, Utah - Nathan Geiser buried seven three-pointers and tallied a game-high 23 points to guide Northern Arizona past Furman 68-56 Thursday evening in the Gossner Foods Classic at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

The Lumberjacks (8-4) opened the second half on a 25-10 run to erase a 29-27 Paladin lead at the half and claim a 52-39 advantage with under eight minutes remaining. Geiser connected on 5-of-7 three-point attempts in the second half as the Lumberjacks outscored Furman 41-27 over the final 20 minutes.

Furman shot 46.2% from the field in the first half and led by as many as five points before settling for a two-point cushion at the break. The Paladins held NAU to just 38.0% from the field for the game, but the Lumberjacks drained 22-of-33 free throws to go with Geisers second half three-point splurge.

Furman converted on 22-of-50 field goal attempts, but just 5-of-13 free throws and 7-of-22 attempts beyond the arc. Freshman Bobby Austin led Furman with 12 points and eight rebounds while Alex Opacic added 10 points. Noah States came off of the bench to total seven points and seven boards.

Point guard Josh Wilson joined Geiser in double figures with 12 points. Kyle Landry added eight points and a game-high 11 boards for NAU.

Furman (0-9) will play at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time Friday in the consolation game against the loser of tonight's Utah State versus Utah Valley matchup. Northern Arizona will face the winner at 10:05 p.m. ET.