Late second foul costs Northern Colorado men at Weber State

When the University of NorthernColorado men’s basketball team tried hit a game-winning shot with two seconds left Thursday night at Weber State but missed, overtime seemed inevitable.

However, a foul — in the double bonus, of course — with just 7/10 of a second left sent Weber State to the line with a chance to steal the win.

The Wildcats took advantage.

UNC (10-10, 6-8 Big Sky) fell to Weber State (17-5, 12-3 Big Sky), 60-59, on Thursday night at “The Purple Palace” in Ogden, Utah.

In the words of UNC head coach Steve Smiley, the Bears’ loss was due to “death by a thousand paper cuts.” Neither team’s play was particularly sharp, but Northern Colorado had more small mistakes than Weber State.

The Bears turned the ball over 15 times to the Wildcats’ 13. This was a key for both teams coming into the game; they’re known for a fast pace that sometimes gets sloppy.

UNC also added 15 personal fouls to the stat sheet, while Weber State finished with 12. One of those fouls — a split second decision by junior guard Daylen Kountz — iced the game in the Wildcats’ favor.

The biggest area of inefficiency, however, came by way of junior guard Matt Johnson. It wasn’t that he didn’t play with passion or effort — he finished with one rebound, three assists and two steals — but shots weren’t falling for a guy whose been a key contributor since January.

Coming into the matchup, Johnson had been leading the team during conference play with 14.7 points per game. He finished with just five on 1-13 shooting and two free throws.

It wasn’t all bad, though. The Bears stayed within striking distance all 40 minutes, even taking their own leads to show they can keep up with the top teams.

In fact, UNC out-rebounded the Wildcats, 33-29. The team picked up nine offensive boards in that total.

They also went 9-of-29 from 3-point range, while holding their opponent to just one make.

While Johnson struggled to find a rhythm, junior forward Kur Jockuch stepped up. He logged 15 points and 15 rebounds in the loss; his fourth consecutive double-double.

Junior guard Bodie Hume added 11 points and nine rebounds, while Kountz had 14 points, respectively.

Smiley — a former assistant for the Wildcats — and his team will return to play this weekend in an attempt to split the series.