Highway Accident Kills Nau Star

Brad Snyder, the top scorer on Northern Arizona University’s men’s basketball team, was killed early Sunday when his car flipped on Interstate 17, officials said.

The 6-foot-6 junior forward, who was averaging 14.5 points a game, lost control of his small station wagon about eight miles north of Camp Verde, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said.

Snyder apparently was headed for the Phoenix area after the Lumberjacks registered an 86-81 overtime win Saturday night over Idaho State, sports information director Chris Burkhalter said.

Snyder, 21, graduated from Chaparral High School in Scottsdale.

Authorities said about 2:45 a.m. Snyder swerved left to avoid an unknown object or animal, ending up in the median, overcorrected to the right, went off the road and flipped twice. Snyder, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown about 90 feet from the car, Burkhalter said.

Snyder was pronounced dead at the scene.

`He had so many friends and everyone liked him - everyone,” said coach Ben Howland. “He was a great young man, a great human being. He was everything a coach wanted.”

Snyder scored 14 points Saturday night in a win that kept NAU within striking distance of a Big Sky Conference tournament berth.