Men’s Team Opens Season With Exhibition Loss

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona men’s basketball team, led by junior Shane Johannsen’s 20 points and nine rebounds, couldn’t overcome an early lead by Fort Lewis College, and dropped Friday night’s exhibition at the Rolle Activity Center, 75-65.

“I thought our players showed that their conditioning was terrible tonight,” said head coach Mike Adras. “The whole team looked out of shape and I thought that led to the early foul trouble. We didn’t play consistently enough to win and I think this is an eye opening experience to what we need to work on in practice.”

Despite Johannsen’s near double-double, the Lumberjacks trailed the Skyhawks throughout the contest. Guard DeAndre Lansdowne paced the Skyhawks with 28 points, shooting 10 of 13 from the field, and a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe.

Fort Lewis jumped out to an early 13-2 lead, and the Skyhawks were already in the bonus at the 16:02 mark in the first half helping them stake a 46-35 lead at the half.

Junior Cameron Jones chipped in 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the contest, and was the Lumberjacks second-leading scorer.

Next up for the men’s squad is Southwestern (Ariz.) on Nov. 13 in the season opener. The game tips off at 6:35 p.m. MST, and will be televised on Universityhouse, channel 9411 on Dish Network.