MISSOULA, Mont. (Jan. 27, 2018) – Northern Arizona junior
Torry Johnson posted double-figure points for the third consecutive game with 19, but the NAU men's basketball team committed 22 turnovers which Montana turned into 32 points to help send the Lumberjacks home with an 82-64 loss at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula on Saturday night.
The Lumberjacks led for a total of 3:25 in a tightly contested first half that featured six lead changes, but after the break Montana outscored NAU 15-2 over the initial 3:42 and 28-7 over the opening 6:32 of the final period to put to game out of reach.
"The bottom line is in the first half we had 11 turnovers and they (Montana) had 16 points off those turnovers and in the second half we have 11 turnovers and they had 16 points off those turnovers," NAU head coach
Jack Murphy said. "In the second half those 16 points came in the first eight to 10 minutes. They did a great job. You have to tip your hat to Montana, they are the best team in the league because they are the best defensive team. They play for 40 minutes on the defensive end of the floor."
The 'Jacks also struggled with their shot late in the first half and into the second as it had a pair of droughts without a field goal connection that totaled 13:34 of game time. NAU shot blanks for a 9:09 stretch that covered the final 5:01 of the first half and the opening 4:08 of the second before also going without a bucket for a span of 4:25 late in the contest.
Johnson, who now has recorded a total of 71 points over the last three games (23.6 ppg), scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half but also committed five turnovers in the final 20 minutes (seven for game).
Montana also sparked its second-half spurt with solid shooting from long distance as it connected on 12-of-28 treys for the game, including an 8-of-16 clip in the last 20 minutes of regulation.
Michael Oguine led the Grizzlies' shooters as he dropped in 7-of-12 attempts from beyond the arc in finishing with a game-high 23 points. Joining Oguine in double-figures for Montana was Jamar Akoh who notched 17 points while shooting 8-of-9 from the field. Ahmaad Rorie chipped in 12 and Sayeed Pridgett added 10.
Freshman
Karl Harris was the lone other Lumberjack to post double-digit points as he finished with 11. Sophomore
Brooks DeBisschop led all players with eight rebounds in the loss.
NAU now falls to 4-18 overall on the season and 1-8 in Big Sky play. Montana moves to 16-5 with the victory and stays perfect in conference action at 9-0.
"The good news is that we still have half of the conference schedule to play," Murphy said. "We have time to get better and I feel like we have gotten a lot better. I like how we competed in the first half. The last four minutes of the first half and the first four to six minutes of the second half got away from us. If we can clean that up we will do some things and we will."
The coaching staffs for both teams wore sneakers and suits in support of the Coaches for Cancers initiative.
The Lumberjacks return home next week for a showdown with Idaho State on Thursday, Feb. 1 in a 6:30 p.m. MST tip at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome.
Thursday's 'Jacks-Bengals contest will be televised live on NAU TV (Suddenlink channel 3 in Flagstaff) and streamed live on Pluto.TV (channel 239). The game will also be aired on the Lumberjack Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 6 p.m. MST.
