Battle, Montana St. beat NAU, win 2nd straight Big Sky title

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — RaeQuan Battle scored 25 points and Montana State beat Northern Arizona 85-78 to clinch its second consecutive Big Sky Conference title and an automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Jalen Cone converted a three-point play to cap a 12-6 spurt and pull the Lumberjacks within five points — as close as they had been since late in the first half — 70-65 with 4:50 to play but Battle was fouled as he hit a 3-pointer from the right corner 24 seconds later, made the and-1 free throw and Northern Arizona got no closer. Carson Towt had 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds for the Lumberjacks. Montana State has won eight consecutive games and 13 of its last 14.