Cold shooting, Norfolk State chop down NAU on the road

NORFOLK, Va. -- Cold shooting by Northern Arizona mixed with the hot shooting of Norfolk State gave the Spartans an 81-62 win tonight at Echols Hall. The Lumberjacks fell behind by 18 points at the half and were unable to recover.

"We played for 20 minutes and they played for 40," said head coach Jack Murphy. "I changed the lineup to start the second half and we had effort. They took it to us in the first half and we didn't respond. We missed too many shots in the paint. You can't do that on the road. We showed fight in the second half, but we need it for a full game."

NAU made the first basket of the game when Ako Kaluna laid it in the hoop, but after the 15:32 mark it failed to catch a rhythm. The Spartans connected on seven of their first 10 shots, and then managed to shoot 59.3 percent from the floor for the first half to take an 18-point lead into the locker room.

The Lumberjacks had 10 turnovers, and made only seven baskets, which hindered their efforts of taking a lead. Aaseem Dixon led NAU at the half with five points and a pair of rebounds.

Jaleni Neely sparked NAU's offense so start the second half as he scored four of NAU's six points to start the second half on a run.

NAU went on a 10-5 run, thanks to some fastbreak points and charity from the free throw line.

Unfortunately, the Spartans would only let NAU run up the court for a short period of time, before it was able to slow down the Lumberjacks.

With 7:46 to go in the game, the teams were fairly even in the second half with NAU having 20 points, and the Spartans 18.

Norfolk State used the free throw line to their advantage as it assisted in its 9-0 run that gave them a 71-46.

NAU finished the game on a 12-4 run, but it wasn't enough as the Lumberjacks dropped its first meeting to Norfolk State.

Dixon finished with a team-high 17 points, while Neely added 12 points. The 'Jacks finished 35.7 percent from the floor and 77.3 percent from the free throw line.

The Spartans shot 57.4 percent from the floor for the game. Jeff Short led Norfolk State with 25 points, while RaShid Gaston had 20 points and 11 rebounds.