November 24, 2009

Men’s Basketball Starts Long Road Stretch at Santa Clara

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona men’s basketball team embarks on a tough road stretch starting with a game at Santa Clara on Wednesday. The game marks the third in the West Coast Classic for the Lumberjacks, who enter the game with a 1-2 record in non-conference play and 0-1 mark classic play. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. Flagstaff time.

“Playing on the road there is a lot more execution involved than playing at home,” said junior guard Cameron Jones. “You have to be precise and on your game, coming out of the locker room with energy. The start of the game and the start of the second half is the most important part.”

Jones credits the team’s strong second half on the road at Arizona as a key learning experience for this young team.

NAU will play eight of the next nine games on the road with the only home contest coming against UC Riverside on Dec. 13. The Lumberjacks will visit five states: California, Montana, New Mexico, Colorado and Texas during the stretch and travel by train (New Mexico), plane and automobile a total of 7,004 miles on the five trips to play the eight games. The team will drive to Phoenix and back six times during the month.

NAU went 1-14 on the road last season with the only win coming at Sacramento State. The Lumberjacks lost the last four games on the road in 2008-09 and the opener at Arizona this season, bringing a five-game road losing streak into this contest.

The Classic represents five different Division I conferences including the West Coast (Santa Clara), the Mountain West (San Diego State), Big Sky (Northern Arizona), Big West (Pacific) and WAC (Fresno State). The West Coast Classic is considered one of the first of its kind because each school gets to host two home games. NAU also played Pacific last week in a game that was suspended due to a power outage.

NAU is playing Santa Clara for just the second time in school history. Santa Clara won the first match-up with Northern Arizona, 72-61, in the first round of the Cable Car Classic on Dec. 27, 1985.

The game can be and heard on the Sodexo Lumberjack Radio Network in Flagstaff (KAFF AM 930). Fans outside of Arizona can hear the broadcast on Stretch Internet.