UTEP dangled that tantalizing carrot of hope in front of Northern Arizona — dangled it, dangled it, dangled it.
And so finally the Lumberjacks took it.
Northern Arizona broke a four-game losing streak, won just its third game of the season and won its first non-conference road game in just over two years by dumping the slumping Miners 76-74 Saturday night in front of 5,667 fans (and that included about 2,000 empty orange seats disguised as no-shows) in the Don Haskins Center.
It was, in short, an abysmal night for the Miners. It was a night when this season turned ugly.