LAS VEGAS, NV – The Alabama State men's basketball team struggled to find their shot in the second half and were hampered by too many fouls as the Hornets dropped their first game of the Global Sports Classic tournament 71-57 to Northern Arizona at UNLV's home court—the Thomas and Mack Center at Tarkanian Court—on Friday afternoon.

Next, the Hornets will play Cal State Fullerton (2-3) Saturday in the consolation game at 1 p.m. CT / 11 a.m. PT at the same venue.

Alabama State (0-5) did show some fight as it battled back from a 15-point deficit in the opening half to get within six by the time halftime rolled around and trailed 37-31 at the break.

But, the Hornets shot 29 percent in the second half and took 16 fewer free throw attempts than the Lumberjacks for the game. 

Alabama State went 9-of-13 from the line while NAU capitalized by making 21-of-29 from the charity stripe. 

"Our problem right now is that we are fouling too much," said ASU head men's basketball coach Lewis Jackson.

"We're averaging about 21 fouls per game and our opponents are averaging about 30 free throw attempts per game.  With that many free throw attempts, it's going to be difficult to win.  We did a lot of good things early in the first half and some in the second half, but we just have to learn how to play smart down the stretch.  And, we need guys to step up and make shots."

The Hornets did receive some offensive production from their bench as Corvon Butler led ASU with a team-high 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor while Mikel Tyson scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting to go with a team-high nine rebounds and one block before fouling out late in the game. 

ASU got a scattered, balanced scoring attack as well from Steve Rogers (nine points), Tony Armstrong (eight points, seven rebounds, one block) and Rodney Simeon (eight points). 

The Hornets were off from 3-point distance as the team combined to shoot from 2-of-23 from beyond the arc. 

"We did take a lot of those in haste in trying to cut into the lead," coach Jackson said.

"But, we basically want to play inside-out.  With Tony Armstrong, we have one of the best back-to-the-basket players that we've had.  He has to get more touches.  We definitely can't shoot that percentage from the 3-point line." 

Northern Arizona (2-5) was lifted by Jordyn Martin, who produced 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting, 12 rebounds and two steals. 

The Lumberjacks will take on Jacksonville State (3-3) in the championship game on Saturday. 

Live stats for tomorrow's Alabama State game against Cal State Fullerton may be followed here: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=unlv

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