The men’s basketball team dropped its Big Sky Conference opener Thursday night, falling to Northern Arizona 73-64.

After trailing by 13 at the half, Sacramento State came storming back quickly after the break. Center Konner Veteto led the comeback with seven boards and 13 second half points. The Hornets defense held NAU to just four points in the period’s first eight minutes.

But NAU guard Durrell Norman got hot late, taking advantage of sloppy transition defense, to score 13 of his own in the game’s final 12 minutes and help the Lumberjacks pull away for good.

The Hornets did not do themselves any favors at the free throw line in the second half. Despite outshooting NAU 51 percent to 32 percent, Sac State went just 4-14 from the stripe while the Lumberjacks shot 13-14.

John Dickson and Jackson Carbajal both scored double digits with 13 points a piece.

The Hornets fall to 5-7 on the season, while NAU improves to 5-8. This was the first conference game for both teams.

From here, Coach Katz’s crew heads to Utah to take on Weber State on Saturday. NAU is also in action Saturday, traveling to Northern Colorado.