Thursday's opponent: Northern Arizona

The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks were a one-man team last year, relying on
senior Ryan McDade to do it all. If he didn't go, neither did the
Lumberjacks as Chris Lang writes in the Arizona Daily Sun.

The Lumberjacks are lead by senior Aaron Bond, who averages over 15 points per game. But after Bond got in foul trouble last weekend against Sacramento State, Northern Arizona didn't falter as they have in the past when losing their scoring leader. The Lumberjacks bring that balance to Cheney when they take on Eastern Washington University Thursday night.

Bond and Eastern Washington junior Marc Axton might not have that much in common outside of basketball, but on the court they're almost identical. "Bond is like Marc Axton, he's versatile, he can shoot the ball or go post up," said Eastern head coach Ray Giacoletti. "I think Marc will do a good job neutralizing him."

Axton is coming off a 19-point effort against Montana State in which he hit 5 of 7 from the three-point line. Bond is hitting over 42 percent from the arc. Both average well over double figures in scoring and are important to their teams success. They will be matched up head-to-head Thursday night in what could be a preview of two first-team all-conference performers.