SACRAMENTO, Calif. (January 9, 2020) – The Northern Arizona men's basketball team nearly erased a 20-point halftime deficit, getting as close as five late in the second half, before falling short in a 64-57 loss to Sacramento State on Thursday. The Lumberjacks fell to 7-6 overall and 1-3 in conference play despite forging a late comeback effort.
"This is an opportunity for us to learn," said interim head coach
Shane Burcar. "In the second half, I'm happy with the guys because we battled. There's been games in my career when you're getting beat in the second half and you battle, it can turn around a season. Not that we have to turn around our season, but it'll be a quick turnaround for Saturday and we need to learn from this."
The Hornets put their imprint on the game in the first half, shooting 65.4 percent and outscoring the Lumberjacks in points off turnovers (13-4), points in the paint (24-16) and second chance points (9-2) before halftime. They outrebounded the 'Jacks, 19-6, and took advantage of a slow NAU start offensively with the Lumberjacks shooting only 38.5 percent from the floor.
The second half was a different story with NAU shooting 44.8 percent after halftime compared to only 32.1 percent for Sacramento State. The Lumberjacks also turned around the rebounding battle, 21-17, in the second half in putting together a rally.
Trailing 55-42 with eight minutes remaining in the game, sophomore
Luke Avdalovic started an 8-0 run with a three-pointer. Sophomore
Cameron Shelton followed with an and-1 and proceeded to make two more at the line to bring NAU within 55-50 with five minutes to go.
Sacramento State finally snapped a near five-minute scoring drought – and six-minute drought without a field goal – with a basket to stop NAU's run with 3:51 left. Senior
Brooks DeBisschop, who led the Lumberjacks with 15 points, answered with a jumper to make it a 57-52 game with 2:53 remaining but the 'Jacks never got closer.
DeBisschop was 7-for-14 from the field and he grabbed a team-high tying five rebounds. Junior
Cameron Satterwhite matched DeBisschop's five rebounds and was second on the team with 12 points. Shelton was the third Lumberjack in double-figure scoring with 10 points.
Sacramento State shot 48.1 percent while NAU converted at a 41.8 percent clip for the game. The Hornets still managed to hold the rebounding advantage, 36-27, and made the most of extra opportunities with a 19-8 edge in points off turnovers and 15-6 advantage in second chance points.
The Hornets never trailed in the game after jumping out to a 10-2 lead. Satterwhite threw down a dunk in transition to bring the Lumberjacks within 14-11 with 10:30 before halftime, only for the Hornets to go on a 9-0 run to take a 12-point advantage. After senior
Ted McCree and sophomore
Nik Mains put in consecutive baskets to close the Sacramento State lead to 23-15, the Hornets closed the half on an 18-6 run to take a 41-21 lead into halftime.
Next, NAU heads back home for a 4 p.m. tip-off versus Idaho State on Saturday in the Walkup Skydome.
