SACRAMENTO, Calif – Northern Arizona men's basketball took a four-point lead into the locker room at the half, but Sacramento State battled back on its Senior Day defeating the Lumberjacks 64-51 at The Nest. The win gave the Hornets the 10 seed heading into the Big Sky Tournament, while the Lumberjacks will be slotted at the No. 11 spot.

"We went cold in the first half, after starting out well," said head coach Jack Murphy. "Everyone came out and competed very hard for 40 minutes. The effort was there tonight. We are now with a 0-0 slate going into the Big Sky Tournament. We have to come out and defend and attack the paint. Anything can happen when we do that."

NAU had seven different players aid in its 11 field goals in the first half, leading to a 29-25 edge at the half on the road at Sacramento State. Fouls did plague the Lumberjacks to start the game, but not before Ako Kaluna pulled down seven rebounds and Kris Yanku dished out four assists.

It was a rather low scoring first half, as neither team passed the 30-point mark with a combined 10 free throw attempts by both squads. Turnovers did hinder the offensive output with the Hornets racking up eight and NAU right behind them with seven.

The second half was a different story to start as the Hornets began the half on a 6-0 run to take a 31-29 advantage. Corey Brown stopped the Hornets' run with a fastbreak dunk, but Sacramento State rattled off eight more points to extend its lead to 39-31.

Torry Johnson continued his offensive production in the game finishing with 13 points. The Lumberjacks (5-24, 3-15 BSC) hit a wall in the second half connecting on seven of 27 field goal attempts, which proved costly when trying to come back in a hostile environment like The Nest. Cold shooting from all areas of the court when a team like the Hornets shot 48.5 percent from the half does not make for a winning combination.

Justin Strings recorded 13 points and five rebounds for the Hornets (13-16, 6-12 BSC). Eric Stuteville (11) and Marcus Graves (10) added to the list of top scorers for Sacramento State, as the Hornets shot 46.4 percent from the field for the game. Its three-point shooting and free throw shots weren't too pretty, but they did enough to surpass the Lumberjacks tonight.

NAU's next stop is Reno, Nev., where it will compete in the 2016 Big Sky Championships. The Lumberjacks are slated as the No. 11 seed and will take on sixth-seeded Eastern Washington at 8:05 p.m. PT/ 9:05 p.m. MT.