The Arizona St. Sun Devils were ahead for most of the night but left Wells Fargo Arena with a 69-68 loss on Saturday night at the hands of the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. NAU's Stallon Saldivar played hero all game, nailing a three-pointer with 0.8 seconds left as the final act of his impressive performance.
Keala King (16 points), Chanse Creekmur (15 points) and Trent Lockett (10 points) all scored in double digits for the Sun Devils. Creekmur carried the scoring load early, hitting three consecutive three-pointers in the first half and ending the game five-for-eight from three-point land. King took over in the second half, driving down the lane repeatedly and connecting on short shot attempts while also dishing out seven assists.
However, all three strong ASU performances paled in comparison to that of Saldivar. He connected on a stunning six of eight three-point attempts- including the game-winner- to lead all scores with 24 points. He also had nine assists.
The Sun Devils fell due to turnovers and free throws. ASU committed an astounding 10 turnovers in the first half. Though they rebounded with only three turnovers in the second half, a poor 46.2% free throw percentage (compared to 66.7% for the Lumberbacks) doomed ASU.
The Sun Devils fall to 4-6 on the season with this loss. ASU plays Southern Miss next at home on Monday.