College Basketball

Hot bench leads Southern Utah past NAU

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:52 a.m. ET

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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Christian Thompson hit 4 of 8 3-point attempts and scored 16 points to lead a strong effort by the Southern Utah bench as the Thunderbirds knocked off Northern Arizona, 69-59 on Saturday afternoon.

Southern Utah got 44 of its 69 points from its bench, led by Thompson and Trey Kennedy, who combined to score 30 points as the Thunderbirds snapped a five-game losing streak to Northern Arizona.

Southern Utah led by four, 22-18 with under seven minutes to play in the first half, but closed out the period to take a 37-28 advantage into intermission.

"We missed a lot of open shots and that's not going to win you ball games," NAU coach Jack Murphy said. "Southern Utah on the other hand made its shots and that's how it managed to stay ahead of us. As a coach it's tough to see us come out and play like this after two good games last week."

John Marshall had 14 points, converting 10 of 12 from the line, for Southern Utah (5-21, 3-13 Big Sky).

Ako Kaluna scored a career-high 28 points for Northern Arizona (5-22, 3-13) in its final home game of the season.

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