Little Rock Tops NAU, Improves to 10-0

LITTLE ROCK – The Little Rock men's basketball team continued its torrid start to the 2015-16 season, moving to 10-0 on the year with an 84-57 victory over Northern Arizona at the Jack Stephens Center on Sunday afternoon.
 
"Our formula for success isn't a secret," head coach Chris Beard said after the win. "We try to shoot a good percentage; we try to take care of the basketball and not turn it over. We try to be committed to defense every possession. I think we played 13 players and 12 scored tonight, and that's exactly the way we want it to be."
 
The Trojans (10-0), now one of just six unbeaten teams in the nation, had four double-digit scorers on the day and held the Lumberjacks (2-8) to 34.6 percent shooting from the field.
 
Marcus Johnson Jr. led all Little Rock players with 15 points while Jalen Jackson (14), Roger Woods (13) and Mareik Isom (12) all poured in at least 12 points for the Trojans. Little Rock also dominated the game on the boards, pulling down 43 rebounds to Northern Arizona's 30.
 
The victory was the Trojans' fourth straight double-figure win and second consecutive win by at least 20 points. Little Rock also held its opponent under 60 points for the fourth straight game.
 
Sunday's victory matches the program record for consecutive wins (10) while extending the team's best-ever start to a year in program and Sun Belt Conference history. The win was Little Rock's 100th ever at the Jack Stephens Center since the building opened for the 2005-06 season.
 
The Lumberjacks took a 6-5 lead early in the game on a 3-pointer, but Kemy Osse hit from downtown after that to give Little Rock the lead at 8-6.
 
The Trojans would never trail again.
 
After giving up a Lumberjacks free throw, Little Rock went on a 9-0 run in the next 100 seconds to take a 17-7 lead into the under-12 media timeout.  Four minutes later, Little Rock extended that lead to 13 points at 25-12.
 
A brief Lumberjacks run cut the Trojans' lead to just 5 points with five minutes remaining in the half. But Johnson got the Little Rock offense back into it, connecting on three consecutive shots to bring the team's lead back into double figures. A Maurius Hill layup on a Jermaine Ruttley pass made it a 10-0 Trojan run with 90 seconds left in the half, and the team held 44-23 lead at the break.
 
The Lumberjacks went the final five minutes of the half without a field goal, and only one free throw in the final second of the half gave them any points in that span. Little Rock's defense held Northern Arizona to 30.4 percent shooting in the half and got 13 points off Lumberjack turnovers.
 
Little Rock's lead continued to grow early in the second half, as the team led by as many as 30 points before winning the game by 27. 
 
Lis Shoshi was Little Rock's top rebounder, bringing down eight boards in 18 minutes. Hill and Isom had seven rebounds apiece. Josh Hagins led the way with five assists, while Woods, Ben Marcus and Stetson Billings each had two blocks.
 
The Trojans' bench outscored Northern Arizona's 58-11, and the Trojans had 44 points in the pain to the Lumberjacks' 20.
 
The Trojans are on the road in two days for their next game, taking on Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. Game time is set for 2 p.m., and the contest will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest.