GAME NOTES: First-round action at the Big Sky Conference Tournament continues on Thursday, as the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks go up against the Northern Colorado Bears at Dahlberg Arena.

Northern Arizona, which is making its third straight conference tournament appearance, finished the season tied for third with Sacramento State, but will be the No. 4 seed after going 13-5 in league play. The Lumberjacks closed out their regular season with a bang by winning six of their final seven and 10 of their last 12 games to post an 18-13 overall mark.

One of those losses over that stretch, came to Northern Colorado back on Feb. 28.

Northern Colorado won its last three games and comes into this tourney as the five seed following a solid season that saw it post a 10-8 mark inside the Big Sky and 15-14 overall.

This will be the third meeting this season between the schools and the second straight year in the quarterfinals of this tournament. The teams split the matchups during the season, but Northern Colorado won last year's tournament contest.

The winner of this contest will square off against the winner between No. 8 Weber State and the top-seeded Montana Grizzlies on Friday.

Northern Arizona, which is seeking its first title since 1999-00, had four players earn Big Sky recognition this season. Junior forward Jordyn Martin was named the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, guard Kris Yanku earned All- First Team honors, guard Quinton Upshur was voted to the second team, and guard Aaseem Dixon received honorable mention accolades.

Martin made his presence known on defense this year ranking in the top 10 in offensive and defensive rebounds. He finished the season ranked sixth in overall (7.1) and Big Sky games (7.4) in rebounding. Yanku led the league in assists with 6.6 per game during conference play and finished eighth in scoring at 15.8 ppg. After being named last year's newcomer of the year Upshur led the team with 14.4 points per game, while both he and Yanku lead NAU with 24 double-digit scoring games.

The 'Jacks lead the league in rebounding margin (+9.2), rebounding offense (39.2), rebounding defense (30.0), offensive rebounds (12.8), offensive rebounding percentage (.361), defensive rebounding percentage (.783) and defensive rebounds (26.4). Jordyn Martin is sixth in rebounding (7.4) and Kris Yanku is tied for 15th with 5.5.

Northern Colorado, seeking its first crown since 2011, is paced by Tevin Svihovec, who was also a first-team Big Sky selection. Svihovec led the team with 13.5 ppg and also became the DI player to record over 300 assists. The fifth year senior sits with 329 under his belt. The mark is also the 4th best in all-time record book. Svihovec has started all but one game this year, and has only eight games out of 29 where he didn't reach double figures.

Thanks to six different players who average six or more points per outing, UNC is one of the highest scoring teams in the Big Sky, netting 75.3 ppg on 48.1 percent shooting from the field. Cameron Michael (12.9 ppg) Dominique Lee (10.6 ppg) and Tim Huskisson (10.6 ppg) all scored in double figures this season, with Lee leading the team with 7.3 rebounds.

Northern Arizona closed its season about as hot as any team in the Big Sky. One of its two losses over the final 12 games though, came at the hands of the Bears. The Lumberjacks will again have a hard time reeling in high-scoring Northern Colorado.