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LOS ANGELES - Sophomore Evan Payne scored a career-high 32 points but it wasn't enough for LMU (3-5) to overcome a 14-5 edge in point off turnovers for Northern Arizona (3-6), who scored the go ahead bucket with 42 seconds left to earn a 71-69 win on Saturday afternoon at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Payne finished the game hitting 10-for-16 from the field, hitting 4-for-9 from three and 8-for-10 from the free throw line. He added six rebounds. Marin Mornar added nine points as no other Lion had double-digits. Five players were in double figures for the Lumberjacks, including a team-high 18 from Quinton Upshur.

The Lions won all facets of the game except second chance points and turnovers and it cost them down the stretch. LMU finished with 16 turnovers to just eight for NAU, who finished with a 14-5 edge in points off turnovers. They also had nine offensive rebounds to LMU's six, leading to a 13-8 edge in second chance points. The Lions out rebounded NAU for the game, 35-30.

"Knowing how to win with the lead and closing games out is going to be a hard lesson for this team," said Head Coach Mike Dunlap. "We had too many turnovers in the final minutes."

The Lions finished shooting 45.7 percent from the field while Northern Arizona hit 45 percent. The difference came in the that NAU was 27-for-60 from the field while the Lions were 21-for-46. The Lions also finished hitting 20-for-25 from the free throw line (80 percent) and 7-for-19 from three (36.8 percent). NAU was just 13-for-22 from the charity stripe and 4-for-17 from three (23.5 percent).

"It was a tremendous effort in holding the line by the entire team," said Dunlap. "But not going to win too many games with 16 turnovers. We also showed that scoring is going to be an issue, and we need more from our four and five's."

The game was tight throughout as the game featured 16 lead changes and 12 ties. The turnover edge was from the beginning as NAU led at the half, 35-32, thanks to committing just three first half turnovers while the Lions had seven.

NAU's lead grew to as many as eight in the second half, 43-35, on a pair of Kris Yanku free throws. However, the Lions would go on a 10-2 run to tie the game on a pair of Matt Hayes free throws with 14:57 to play. It was the game's fifth tie. It would be back-and-forth from there.

Payne would give the Lions the lead, 55-53, with 6:51 to play on a jumper in front of the Lions' bench. The game would get tied three more times from that point, including the 12th and final time on a pair of Payne free throws with a minute to play.

Upshyr would give the Lumberjacks the lead for good on the next possession, scoring on a baseline drive to the bucket. He was fouled, but missed the free throw.

Payne would drive the lane himself on the Lions' next possession, but his shot was blocked on contact and the Lumberjacks got a pair of free throws not he next trip down the court to make it 70-66 with 13 seconds to play.

The Lions weren't done yet as Hayes hit a three-pointer to make it 70-69 with four seconds to play. The Lions immediately fouled and Yanku hit just one of two free throws to make it a two-point game. However, the Lions' demon all night would rare its head one last time as they would turn the ball over.

LMU continues its road swing when they travel to Stanford on Wednesday, Dec. 17 for a 6 pm tip-off. The game can be heard on KXLU 88.9 FM and will be on the Pac-12 Network.