FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 4, 2019) – The Northern Arizona University men's basketball team were outscored by 19 points in the final 20 minutes of regulation and dropped its first home game of the season by an 85-66 margin vs. UC Davis on Wednesday evening at the Rolle Activity Center.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Lumberjacks and moves their overall record to 3-2. UC Davis improves to 3-7 following the victory.
NAU stayed close for the majority of the contest, but a 13-4 run by the Aggies to open the second half broke open a game that was deadlocked 36-36 heading into halftime.
"I was disappointed with our performance in the second half," NAU head coach
Shane Burcar said. "We came away from this game with a lot of things to work on. We need to focus on making ourselves better and getting ready to face Omaha on Sunday."
UC Davis was led throughout by senior Joe Mooney, who recorded a career-high 35 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the field and a perfect 6-fo-6 clip from the charity stripe. He was one of three players in double-figures for the Aggies, joined by Stefan Gonzalez (17) and Kennedy Koehler (10).
The Lumberjacks were led in defeat by sophomore
Luke Avdalovic, who finished with a team-high 17 points. Fellow sophomore
Cameron Shelton notched his fifth consecutive double-digit scoring effort with 11 and junior
Bernie Andre chipped in 10.
The game was a tale of two halves for the Lumberjacks, who shot 37 percent in the second half, while UC Davis hit on 70.8 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes. This following an opening half of action which saw NAU lead by as many as four and trail by no more than eight.
The 'Jacks opened the contest by racing out to an early 8-4 advantage, but it was short lived as UC Davis scored 12 of the next 16 points to open a 20-12 bulge that was keyed by a 10-0 run.
NAU answered immediately with three consecutive three-pointers, two by Avdalovic, to reclaim the lead at 21-20 at the 9:20 mark of the first half. Unfortunately for the 'Jacks, that would be the last time they would hold the lead despite bringing momentum into the break following a buzzer-beating trey by senior
Chris Bowling that deadlocked the game at 36-36.
The Aggies controlled the second half from the outset as they outscored the Lumberjacks 7-0 over the opening 2:47 before posting their first double-digit lead of the contest at 54-42 on a three-pointer by Gonzalez with just over 12 minutes remaining.
The Lumberjacks would get no closer than within eight points the rest of the way in a game that featured a total of eight ties and four lead changes.
The Lumberjacks close out their current run of home games with a special contest at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, Ariz., on Sunday, Dec. 8 vs. Omaha in a 3 p.m. MST tip.
Tickets to Sunday's clash with Omaha are available via Ticketmaster at the following link:
NAUAthletics.com/Prescott.
NAU men's basketball ticket packages are currently on sale for the 2019-20 season. Fans can purchase tickets online at nauathletics.com/tickets or by calling the Lumberjack Ticket Office at 928-523-0639.
