Men's Basketball Falls At #19 Gonzaga

Dec. 17, 2007

Final Stats

Spokane, WASH. - The University of Northern Colorado men's basketball team started the five-day three-game road swing through the northwest with a 77-57 loss to #19 Gonzaga this evening. With the loss, the Bears move to 5-4 on the year, while the Bulldogs improve to 9-2.

Junior forward Jabril Banks continued his hot shooting, hitting 6-of-10 from the field and all six of his free throw attempts for 18 points on the night to lead the Bears in scoring. Sophomore forward Jefferson Mason and freshman forward Taylor Montgomery both led the team with seven rebounds each.

Senior guard Sean Taibi returned to the active roster after missing the last four games with an injury. He scored five points and had one rebound in his return.

Northern Colorado shot just .316 from the field and .200 from the three-point line (4-20), but hit a season best .773 from the free throw line (17-22), including a perfect 5-for-5 in the second half. The Bears had 37 rebounds, six assists, seven steals and no blocked shots in the game.

Gonzaga was led by Austin Daye with 18 points, while Micah Downs scored 17, Steven Gray chipped in 12 and Jeremy Pargo added 10. Both Day and David Pendergraft led the Bulldogs with seven rebounds each.

The Zags shot .459 from the floor and .350 from the three-point line (7-20), while shooting .609 (14-23) from the charity stripe. They also out-rebounded the Bears with 45, tallied 13 assists, four blocks and eight steals en route to the victory.

Northern Colorado now travels to Corvallis to take on Oregon State on Wednesday night. Game time is set for 7:00 Pacific and the contest will be televised live on FOX Sports Rocky Mountain.