CEDAR CITY, Utah, Nov. 23 - Ramell Taylor scored 13 points
to lead four Thunderbirds in double-figures as Southern Utah improved to 4-2 on
the young season with a 75-58 win over NAIA Southern Virginia. SVU dipped
to 3-4 on the season.
After an exteremely slow start that saw the teams tied 2-2
at the 16:30 mark Taylor scored six points to spark a 9-3 Thunderbird run. The
Knights made a run of their own, however, pulling back within 19-16 on a
3-pointer by Casey Nye with 9:08 to play in the half.
SUU reasserted itself through the remainder of the half,
though, getting layups from Ray Jones, Jr. and Taylor, and a traditional
3-point play from Wade Collie to go back up 26-16 with 6:39 to play. The
Thunderbirds wound up taking a 38-29 lead into halftime.
SVU cut its deficit to seven twice in the early minutes of
the second half, but that was as close as the Kniehgts would get as SUU went on
a 17-3 run to take control of the game. Jones scored eight points in the run
and Damon Heuir added five, with Jordan Johnson and Tyson Koehler each adding a
bucket. Koehler's layup at the 10:36 mark gave the Thunderbirds a 57-36
advantage.
SUU led 62-40 on a dunk by Jackson Stevenett with 5:44 to
play and that was when SUU Coach Roger Reid began to empty his bench. All but two
Thunderbirds wound up in the scoring column, all but two had at least one
rebound and and eight of the 14 had an assist.
SUU shot .577 for the game, including .682 in the second
half when the 'Birds knocked down 15-of-22 shots. SVU wound up at .396 after
hitting 19-of-48 shots for the game.
SUU had 19 turnovers, 13 in the second half, but offset
those with 19 assists and eight steals.
In addition to leading the team in scoring, Taylor led the
team with eight rebounds and five assists. Heuir finished with 11 points and
four assists, while Jones had 10 points, six boards and four assists and Matt
Massey finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
Spencer Briggs led SVU with 13 points, while Nye had 11 and
a team-high five rebounds.
SUU hosts Troy on Saturday night, the team's final home game
until Dec. 22 when UC Davis comes to the Centrum.
-- SUU --
