Thunderbirds Lose Grip On Second Half Lead, Fall To NAU
Jan 16, 2020, 10:39 PM
Courtesy of Southern Utah Athletics
CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah men’s basketball lost a second half lead and suffered their sixth loss of the season to the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks.
The Thunderbirds fell to the Lumberjacks 75-72 at the America First Events Center on Thursday, January 16.
After leading the Lumberjacks 45-36 at halftime, the T-Birds maintained their advantage until midway through the second half.
FINAL | Heartbreaker at home pic.twitter.com/3yVz0fQVX9
— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) January 17, 2020
With 12:55 remaining, Northern Arizona’s Bernie Andre nailed a three-point jumper to tie the game at 53 points apiece.
Southern Utah retook the lead with after a Maizen Fausett free throw but the Lumberjacks wouldn’t fall away.
Strong finish by Maiz. Going down to the wire here in Cedar City 👀 pic.twitter.com/Tx3hRQ9L3M
— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) January 17, 2020
A Brooks DeBisschop layup with 9:41 left to play put NAU up 58-57 and gave the Lumberjacks the lead for good.
SUU got back within a point with 4 seconds remaining before Cameron Shelton iced the game for NAU with a couple of free throws.
Cameron Oluyitan led the Thunderbirds with 22 points on 7-9 shooting but was the only SUU starter to score in double figures.
BANG. BANG.
CAM HAS 16 🔥 pic.twitter.com/uoUWA6UEvk
— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) January 17, 2020
The T-Birds John Knight III scored 18 points off the bench on 7-12 field goals.
14-0 R U N
— also wow that was impressive pic.twitter.com/99EIRTYAl0
— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) January 17, 2020
NAU was led by Shelton and Andre who each scored 19 points.
Southern Utah fell to 10-6 on the season and 3-2 in conference play.
Northern Arizona improved to 8-7 overall and 2-4 in the Big Sky.
The Thunderbirds host the Sacramento State Hornets on Saturday, January 18 at 1 p.m. (MDT).
