GREELEY, Colo. (Feb. 15, 2018) – Northern Arizona was outscored 52-23 in the second half as it was defeated by a 95-60 count at Northern Colorado on Thursday night at the Bank of Colorado Arena.
The Lumberjacks trailed by just three points at 40-37 with 56 seconds left in the first half but Northern Colorado reeled off 24 of the next 26 points over the remainder of the first half and the opening 4:13 of the second to send NAU to its 12
th consecutive setback against the Bears in Greeley.
Three players for Northern Colorado finished the game with 20 points, including the Bears' starting backcourt of Andre Spight and Jordan Davis, who finished with 25 and 21 points respectively. Jalen Sanders contributed 24 in the victory. The three players combined to shoot 24-of-32 from the field to help lead Northern Colorado to an overall field goal percentage of 59.3 (32-of-54) percent.
"I felt like there were times in the first half where we battled and were playing together and then in the second half, for the second straight game, and we had trouble making a shot. You aren't going to win games like that," NAU head coach
Jack Murphy said. "Every shot for us seemed contested and every shot for Northern Colorado felt like it was open."
Leading the 'Jacks in the loss was sophomore
JoJo Anderson, who finished with a team-best 15 points which included a 6-of-8 performance from the free throw line. Junior
Corey Brown and senior
Gino Littles each chipped in 13 while
Brooks DeBisschop pulled down nine rebounds.
The Bears won the battle in the paint 44-22 and pulled down 41 rebounds to the Lumberjacks 27. The 95 points scored by Northern Colorado marked the fifth time this season that NAU has allowed 90 or more to its opponent.
The loss sends Northern Arizona's record to 4-22 overall and represented its fifth consecutive defeat. The 'Jacks are now 1-12 in Big Sky play with five games remaining in the regular season. Northern Colorado improved to 17-10 and 8-6 in conference action.
The Lumberjacks will conclude their current two-game road trip on Saturday, Feb. 17 at North Dakota in a 3 p.m. MST tip. It will mark the first meeting between the 'Jacks and Fighting Hawks this season.
The Northern Arizona-North Dakota contest will be aired on the Lumberjack Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 2:30 p.m. MST and streamed on PlutoTV (channel 240).
