Men’s Basketball Drops Second Conference Game at MSU

BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Northern Arizona men’s basketball team was hurt by poor shooting and 10 turnovers in the second half to fall to Montana State 62-50 at Worthington Arena Saturday night.

NAU (2-5, 0-2 BSC) shot 33 percent (7-of-21) and just 2-of-9 beyond the three-point arc in the second half. The Bobcats went on a 13-0 run to start the half that erased a seven-point Lumberjack halftime lead.

“We played a good first half,” said Head Coach Mike Adras. “We did not play like we should have in the second half. Unfortunately, Montana State wanted it more than us tonight.”

Leading by four at the 13:48 mark, the Bobcats then went on a 9-1 run over a five minute span in the second half. Overall the Lumberjacks went without a bucket for over six minutes.

“Playing the second night of back-to-back games definitely affected us shooting,” said Adras. “We did not know how to prepare for that situation. We will do it better the next time. It is still early and we are figuring out rotations. But we have to get better.”

Senior Nick Larson led the Lumberjacks with 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Gabe Rogers, Cameron Jones and Stallon Saldivar combined to go 6-for-23 from the field on the night.

Jones, who had scored in double figures in every NAU game, had nine points in the contest. Rogers and Julian Olubuyi each had seven points in the game.

NAU held a 28-23 lead at the half while shooting 41 percent and holding the Bobcats to just 25 percent from the field.

Montana State (4-3, 2-0) was led by Marquis Navarre with 15 points and 14 from Will Bynum.

NAU will be off this week for finals. The Lumberjacks return to the court next Sunday against UC Riverside in the first game to be played in the Walkup Skydome this season. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:05 p.m.