FLAGSTAFF, Arizona – Southern Utah put together an impressive comeback in Flagstaff but fell short against the Lumberjacks. SUU (3-11, 0-3) trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half, but a strong surge cut Northern Arizona's (7-9, 2-1) lead to three. A lead the Lumberjacks would hold onto in their 70-67 win.
It was a rough first half for Southern Utah, who was not able to get started the way they wanted in Flagstaff against Northern Arizona. The Thunderbirds started the game shooting 3-11 from the field and could not keep NAU off the boards.
After the slow start, SUU guard Trey Kennedy gave the team a spark late in the first half, as the Kennedy scored or assisted on ten of SUU's final 13 points. NAU led by 21-34 at the half and the biggest contributor was rebounding.
First half rebounds hurt SUU as they entered the half trailing in the rebound category 9-20. Of the 20 Lumberjack rebounds, nine were offensive, which lead to 13 second-chance points. The first half turnovers also hurt the Thunderbirds who gave up 10 turnovers in the first half that led to 13 points for NAU.
SUU was able to force seven Lumberjack turnovers. However, the Thunderbirds were only able to put three points on the board off those turnovers. The bench contributed seven points in the first half, but a layup at the buzzer by NAU's Jordyn Martin stretched the lead to 13 at halftime.
The second half started similar to the first half for the Thunderbirds. In the first five-and-a-half minutes of the second half, SUU was only able to put two points on the board and the Lumberjacks extended their lead to 19, at 23-42.
The NAU lead bounced from 14 to 18 points over the next seven minutes, but then at the 6:10 mark of the second half SUU made a layup to cut the lead to 16. SUU's Travon Langston contributed six free throws and Junior forward, Casey Oliverson added five points during a 16-3 run by the Thunderbirds. A run that cut the lead to four with just 1:10 left in the game.
A three-point shot by James McGee cut the Lumberjack lead to three with 17 seconds remaining. However, the Thunderbirds' comeback fell just short as NAU converted their free throws down the stretch.
“It was a great effort by our guys, getting back into this ball game,” Head Coach Nick Robinson said. “We showed a lot of fight.”
Oliverson ended with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Langston and Sophomore guard, Race Parsons each contributed 11 points respectively while Parsons added four rebounds. The most impressive stat line for the game came from the Southern Utah bench, who after seven first half points ended with 41 of the 67 SUU points.
“I couldn't be more pleased with the lift that the bench gave us scoring 41 points, a majority of which came in the second half,” Robinson continued.
After grabbing six offensive rebounds in the first half, NAU center Jordan Martin was held to two total rebounds in the second half. Lumberjacks guard, Aaseem Dixon scored 22 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. Kris Yanku added 15 points and seven rebounds, while also dishing out four assists. NAU's Quinton Upshur contributed 11 points and six rebounds for the Lumberjacks, who improved their conference record to 2-1.
The Thunderbirds look forward to being home next week to take on Idaho State and Weber State on Thursday and Saturday respectively. They take on the Bengals, Thursday, January 15, at 7:00 pm at the Centrum Arena. SUU has not played at home since December 6.
