SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (Dec. 19, 2018) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team raced out to an early lead, but 11 turnovers in the first half proved too much to overcome in a 76-60 loss at the University of San Francisco on Wednesday night.
The Lumberjacks (2-7) held a 14-8 advantage just over seven minutes into the contest before the Dons responded with a 23-7 run to close out the half, which was sparked primarily by 11 NAU turnovers. San Francisco converted those early miscues into 13 points, while taking a 31-21 lead into the break despite shooting only 11-of-32 (.344) from the field.
"That is the best we have played since we won at Omaha," NAU head coach
Jack Murphy said. "They played their tails off. The guys played hard and they competed right from the opening tip.
Brooks DeBisschop gets two fouls early in the game simply because he is working so hard, hitting the floor and battling. I couldn't be more proud of how our team played today."
Nik Mains got the 'Jacks within eight points on a layup 20 seconds into the second half, but NAU would never get the San Francisco lead below double digits for the remainder of the contest as the Dons' margin swelled to as many as 21 points as they outscored the Lumberjacks 45-39 over the final 20 minutes.
"I thought we came in with a good game plan and executed it," Murphy said. "We just have to bottle this and stay consistent with our effort and execution as we move forward."
San Francisco just edged NAU on the glass 39-37 – but the Dons snared 12 offensive boards and turned those into a 12-2 edge in second-chance points, parlaying that with an 18-3 edge in points off turnovers to build their double-digit lead.
"The turnovers obviously killed us," Murphy said. "That is a terrific team we played today. We made some mistakes, but the effort we showed to compete will make us better moving forward."
Freshman
Luke Avdalovic was hot from deep for the second straight game as he connected on 4-of-6 attempts from three-point range en route to a 12-point performance. Avdalovic has now hit a total of 10 treys in the last two games after making a total of six in the previous seven contests.
Sophomore
Bernie Andre notched 13 points and six rebounds. Mains finished with nine points and eight boards.
Carlos Hines added eight points and five assists.
Charles Minlend paced San Francisco in the win with 18 points and eight rebounds. Frankie Ferrari tabbed 17 points, five steals and four assists. Matt McCarthy tallied 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
The Lumberjacks made 9-of-14 free throws and did not have a single attempt from the charity stripe in the first half. San Francisco hit on 15-of-24 free throw attempts.
NAU led for a total 4:54 of the contest with its last lead coming at the 9:51 mark of the first half.
The Lumberjacks conclude their eight-day, three-game road trip on Friday, Dec. 21 at the University of Utah in a 7 p.m. MST tip.
The 'Jacks-Utes contest will be televised live on
Pac-12 Networks. It can also be heard on the Lumberjacks Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m. MST.
