FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Dec. 14, 2017) – Sophomore
JoJo Anderson rang up a career-high 30 points and the Northern Arizona men's basketball team rallied to trim a 19-point deficit to just five with 3:06 left in regulation before eventually coming up on the short end of a 90-77 margin against South Dakota on Thursday night at the Rolle Activity Center.
NAU (2-9) put together an 11-5 run over a three-minute stretch late in the second half to get to within 78-73 before the Coyotes scored 12 of the final 16 points to seal the victory.
Freshman
Carlos Hines started the spurt with a jumper and junior
Isaiah Thomas followed with a put back and a foul to cap an old fashioned three-point play, before Anderson added four of his 30 points when he was fouled on a made three-point attempt and made the ensuing free throw to cap the run and put the Lumberjacks in striking range.
"That is a really good South Dakota ballclub we played," NAU head coach
Jack Murphy said. "I give South Dakota a ton of credit because they are very well coached and came in here ready to play, but I am proud of our young men in how we battled and fought and cut the lead down and fought again as the lead went back up. We just couldn't make that next leg, but our guys battled, and I have to give them a lot of credit for that in the second half."
Anderson shot 7-of-16 from the field, including a 5-of-10 clip from long distance and made 11-of-13 free throws in becoming the first Lumberjack to hit the 30-point mark since Mike Green notched 31 against Northern Colorado on Jan. 7, 2017.
Sophomore
Chris Bowling added 13 points and Hines finished with 10 to round out the 'Jacks double-figure scorers.
The game was decided by the Coyotes dominance on the boards as South Dakota out-rebounded Northern Arizona 50-29 for the contest and pulled down 20 on the offensive end which it parlayed into 19 second-chance points.
"The rebounding and the paint is what cost us the game and we were right there against a very good ballclub," Murphy said. "We haven't played well at home previously, so I was glad we came up with some good effort for the home crowd."
South Dakota's (10-3) rebounding prowess also led to a 50-18 advantage in points in the paint. The Coyotes led by as many as 19 with 12:45 left in regulation before the 'Jacks battled back to trim the margin to single-digits at 63-54 with 9:27 left on the clock after posting an 11-2 spurt which featured six points by Bowling.
The Coyotes led by 15 at the break at 38-23 on the strength of 11 points in the opening 20 minutes by Nick Fuller and 13 of their 19 second-chance points for the game, which were made possible by nine offensive boards in the first half.
Northern Arizona battled back as it outscored USD 54-52 in the second half by connecting on seven shots from beyond the arc and tallying a 46.7 (14-of-30) field goal percentage during the final half of action.
Matt Mooney led the way for South Dakota with 24 points, 22 of which came in the second half. Tyler Hagedorn added 20 and Fuller posted 17 on the evening. Trey Burch-Manning and Carlton Hurst paced the Coyotes on the glass as each finished with a game-high 10 rebounds.
Northern Arizona will close out the non-conference schedule with a pair of road games next week in the Sunshine State. The 'Jacks will open the trip with a matchup at South Florida on Monday, Dec. 18 in a 5 p.m. MST start at the Sun Dome in Tampa.
The Lumberjacks will close out the road trek with a game at Jacksonville on Wednesday, Dec. 20 that will tip at 5 p.m. MST and air live on ESPN3.
Both of NAU's games next week will be broadcast live on the Lumberjack Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 4:30 p.m. MST.
