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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Feb. 22, 2018) – Sophomore
JoJo Anderson scored all of his team-leading 15 points in the final 11:26 of regulation to lift the Northern Arizona men's basketball team to a 58-53 home victory over Sacramento State on Thursday night at the Rolle Activity Center.
The Lumberjacks rallied for the win after trailing by nine points at the break before claiming the lead for good at 54-53 on a layup by sophomore
Brooks DeBisschop with 53 ticks left in the contest.
"We can be a really strong team when we play together and united as a unit, that's what makes winners and I am really proud of the effort and dedication to the game plan the guys exhibited tonight," NAU head coach
Jack Murphy said. "It is not about one guy, it is about playing team defense and we did that tonight."
The win snapped a seven-game skid for the 'Jacks and improved their season record to 5-23 and 2-13 in Big Sky contests. Sacramento State slips to 6-22 and 3-12 in conference play. The setback marked the seventh-consecutive loss for the Hornets and dropped their road record to 1-12.
NAU led for all but 1:25 of the final 6:21 of the second half after trailing for a total of 27:14 of the preceding 29:16 of game action.
Anderson scored 15 of the 'Jacks final 26 points overall as he came off the bench and connected on 4-of-5 shots in the second half, including 3-of-4 from beyond the and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
NAU finished the game by outscoring the Hornets 40-26 over the final 20 minutes following a first half that saw the Lumberjacks match their season-low point total for a half with 18 and hit on just a pair of field goals over the final 9:30 before intermission.
Freshman
Karl Harris added 11 points and junior
Torry Johnson totaled 10 to round out the 'Jacks offensive leaders. Fellow junior
Corey Brown pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds and sophomore
Brooks DeBisschop tabbed nine to help NAU win the battle on the glass 41-32.
In addition, Northern Arizona connected on 19-of-24 free throw attempts, while limiting Sacramento State to just a 5-of-9 performance from the charity stripe.
Defensively, the Lumberjacks shut down the Hornets' leading scorer Justin Strings as he managed just three points while making just 1-of-14 field goal attempts. Strings entered the contest averaging 18.3 points per game, which ranked tied for fifth among Big Sky conference leaders. The three-point effort snapped a streak of 47 straight games in double figures for Strings – which was the fifth-longest stretch in the nation.
Kevin Hicks paced Sacramento State in the loss with 14 points, while Bryce Fowler and Izayah Mauriohooho-Le'afa each posted 11. Strings led the Hornets with 10 rebounds.
The Lumberjacks close out the home portion of the regular-season slate with the annual Senior Night game on Saturday, Feb. 24 against Portland State in a contest that will tip off at 6 p.m. MST from the Rolle Activity Center.
The Northern Arizona-Portland State contest will be aired on the Lumberjack Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 5:30 p.m. MST and streamed on PlutoTV (channel 239).
