OGDEN, Utah (Jan. 3, 2019) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team led by as many as seven points and played a strong opening 20 minutes, but a 17-3 burst by Weber State to open the second half was too much to overcome in a 77-52 setback on Thursday night at the Dee Events Center.
NAU came out fast as it rolled to a 7-0 lead to start the game and led for a total of 12:51 of the first half before Weber State took control by outscoring the 'Jacks 46-25 over the final 20 minutes of regulation to improve to 9-5 overall and a perfect 3-0 in Big Sky action and drop NAU's overall mark to 3-10 and 1-2 in league action.
"The second half they got after us," NAU head coach
Jack Murphy said. "I just told our guys in the locker room that we really guarded them well in the first half. I felt in the second half we really didn't give ourselves a chance. They had a lot of transition opportunities and part of that was our offense. We made just as many field goals in the second half, but it didn't look as good from an execution standpoint."
The Lumberjacks were solid on the defensive end early on as they held an athletic Weber State squad without a point for nearly the first five minutes of action and held the lead until the 14:09 mark of the first half. From that point on the teams battled back and forth until the break with a total of three ties and five lead changes in the initial 20 minutes.
Weber State took a 31-27 advantage into intermission and would not relinquish the lead the rest of the game as it opened the second half with its decisive run which was built on solid play in the transition game as it capitalized on NAU's shooting woes which led to numerous run outs and easy shooting opportunities for the Wildcats.
NAU connected on a total of 18 field goals for the game (nine in each half) while shooting 31.0 percent overall, but were able to stay close in the early phases of the game due to solid execution in the half court on the offensive end and an energetic defensive effort that was tough to keep up in the second half due to long rebounds that helped Weber State post 12 fast break points in the final stanza.
The Wildcats size advantage in the post also became apparent in the second half as they outscored the Lumberjacks 26-14 in the paint en route to posting a 46-18 advantage in that category for the game.
The difference in the game was while both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net in the first half. Weber State found its touch after the break as it connected on 17-of-30 shot attempts for a 56.7 clip over the final 20 minutes after making just 41.2 percent (14-of-34) of its shots in the opening half of play.
NAU finished the game with its lowest field goal percentage of the season at 31.0 percent, hitting on 18-of-58 attempts from the field.
The Lumberjacks were outrebounded for the game 46-34 and also came up on the short end of the points off turnovers battle at 18-8.
Sophomore
Bernie Andre and junior
Brooks DeBisschop paced the 'Jacks in defeat with each posting a team-best 10 points.
Weber State saw a total of four players finish with double-figure point totals led by Brekkott Chapman, who tabbed a double-double with game-high in both points (17) and rebounds (16). Cody John and Jerrick Harding each tallied 14 while Zach Braxton added 12.
The Lumberjacks will continue their current three-game road swing with a match up at Idaho State on Saturday night in Pocatello. Tip time is slated for 7 p.m. MST.
The 'Jacks-Bengals contest will be televised live on Pluto TV (Channel 243). It can also be heard on the Lumberjacks Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m. MST.
