Last Second Shot Hands @unco_mbb First Big Sky Loss

Thursday, January 5

Greeley, CO

7:00 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

6-8, 2-1BSC

Southern Utah University

4-11, 2-0BSC

Southern Utah

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Rob Trubia

1/5/2017 10:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Kobee Stalder, UNCBears.com

Box Score

GREELEY, Colo. – Randy Onwuasor's baseline fade away jumper with 1.7 seconds remaining gave Southern Utah (4-11, 2-0 Big Sky) a 78-76 win over Northern Colorado (6-8, 2-1 Big Sky) on Thursday night, snapping UNC's three-game home win streak.

How It Happened:
A redshirt sophomore guard, Chaz Glotta trey and a sophomore guard, Jordan Davis free throw pushed the Bears out to a 76-73 lead over the Thunderbirds with :55 seconds remaining the ball game.

SUU's Mathew Johnson connected on his third three-pointer of the night in the corner to tie the game up at 76 apiece just nine seconds later.

The Bears got an open look from junior guard, DJ Miles on a three-ball that rattled in and out. Southern Utah got the rebound off the miss and talked it over with a timeout and :21 ticks left on the clock.

Everyone in Bank of Colorado Arena knew who was getting the ball for the T-birds. Onwuasor brought it up the full length of the court and drove down the right side after a screen and knocked down the floater to tip the scales in favor of SUU, 78-76.

Northern Colorado got one last attempt at it off the inbound pass as Miles threw up the potential game-winning three from the Big Sky logo that bounced off the rim and out.

The Bears had their chances to put the game away in both halves as they expanded the lead to double figures on two different occasions. UNC adventured on a 15-0 run over five minutes and took a 22-12 lead with 8:57 to play until intermission.

Unfortunately, as it went all night, UNC could not shake the Thunderbirds. SUU answered right back, going on an 11-0 rally of its own to tie the game at 25-25 just minutes later.

UNC clung to a two-point lead at the break, 41-39 thanks to a Davis three-ball as time expired.

Northern Colorado used another run to open the second half, this time in 11-0 fashion on back-to-back three's from Glotta and senior forward, Jon'te Dotson to go up 49-39, but again were unable to stave off Southern Utah's offense.

Davis set a new career-high, scoring 29 points on 9-of-22 shooting in the loss. The sophomore also finished with six assists, six rebounds, one steal and one block.

Glotta was the only other Bear in double figures finishing with 12 points, all coming from beyond the arc as he ended the night 4-of-7 from downtown.

After holding opponents to under 40% shooting in the last four games, UNC allowed SUU to shoot 49.2% from the field.

Game Changer:
Southern Utah's Randy Onwuasor was a thorn in UNC's side all night long. The junior finished with 32 points, his second 30-point game in consecutive contests and made the game-winning bucket to end UNC's win streak.

Key Stat:
Northern Colorado notched a season-high tying 18 offense rebounds, out rebounding Southern Utah 18-6 on the offensive side. The Bears were +10 for the night, hauling in 47 rebounds, to SUU's 37.

In Their Words:
Head Coach, Jeff Linder
"We ended up getting a look with 1.7 left, but it's hard in that situation to get a clean look. We haven't really been in the at situation yet – we have worked on it (in practice). There were a couple things we could have done, but we decided to go that route. At the end of the day, the 1.7 should have never been about that play. That wasn't the deciding factor in that game."

"It was a lot of little things throughout the game that really added up. Some of the fouls we picked up that forced some of the guys like Jonah [Radebaugh] and Ibrahim [Sylla] to take a seat. Give credit to Southern Utah, we had a 12-point lead, we had a 10-point lead – we could have really buckled down and got another stop and made another shot and then who knows, but give them credit they played with a lot of grit and toughness tonight and found a way to come up with a win.

Sophomore guard, Jordan Davis
"At the end of the day, we just didn't lock up. That was the game plan going in. In order for us to beat anybody in the country we have to play defense and we didn't do that tonight because they shot 49.2% on us."

Notables:
- Redshirt sophomore forward, Ibrahim Sylla paced the team in rebounds. Sylla grabbed a new career-high 10 boards. He also recorded a career-best in blocks with four.
- UNC shot 37.7% from the floor in the loss. The Bears were 26-of-69 from the floor, including 9-of-26 (36.0%) from beyond the arc.
- The loss snaps Northern Colorado's three-game win streak at home and overall.
- This was the first loss the Bears have suffered against Southern Utah since the 2012-13 season as the team had won the last six matchups against the Thunderbirds.
- Northern Colorado finished with 12 turnovers on the night, this is the lowest total they've had the past six games since tallying just five against Northern New Mexico on Dec. 3.
- This is the second time this season that UNC has lost on a last second shot. The other came at Denver as the Bears were beat on a three-pointer to fall 73-70.

Up Next:
Men's hoops will continue its home stand on Saturday, Jan. 7 as Northern Arizona (3-12, 0-2) comes to Greeley after a close loss at North Dakota. It's dollar night at Bank of Colorado Arena, with $1 hot dogs and $2 tickets. Fans can purchase tickets online HERE.

*ticketing fees may apply