MACOMB, Ill., Jan. 14 - Damon Heuir scored 22 points to
lead three Thunderbirds in double figures as Southern Utah claimed a 65-55
Summit League win at Western Illinois Saturday night. The win lifted the
Thunderbirds to 9-9 overall and 4-4 in Summit League play while WIU dipped to
9-7 and 4-4.
Defense and hot shooting were the keys for the Thunderbirds,
who hit 24-of-39 shots (61.5 percent) while holding WIU to 19-of-53 (.358) from
the floor. SUU hit 10 of its first
shots in the second half but couldn't pull away as the Leathernecks hit seven
of their first 10 in the period.
"That's something you've got to do on the road is play
defense," SUU Coach Roger Reid said. "We played great defense and we shot the
ball well. We executed the offense, rebounded well and played hard.
"The guy that really got us going in the first half was
Damon Heuir,." Reid added. "He hit 7-of-10 shots, had nine rebounds and five
assists without coming out of the game. We put in a new wrinkle in our offense
that had them a little confused early on and Damon was a big part of that. He
also hit those free throws down the stretch to help preserve our lead."
After SUU took a 26-19 lead at the break the Leathernecks
were able to scrape back into the game, pulling within 36-35 on a pair of free
throws by Obi Emegano with 15:07 to play. Ramell Taylor answered with a jump
shot, then scored inside to push the SUU lead back to 40-35.
SUU was able to hold WIU at bay but the Leathernecks stayed
within six until there was just 1:54 to go in the game when Taylor hit a
3-pointer, just his second of the season, with 1:54 to play as the shot clock
wound down to three seconds, to lift SUU to a 57-48 advantage.
Taylor convertd both ends of a one-and-one situation and
Heuir hit six free throws to lift SUU to the 65-55 win.
Taylor finished with 21 points, one off his career-high, while Stevenett added 13 and six rebounds. SUU's 61.5 shooting percentage was the highest allowed by WIU this season.
The Thunderbirds ran out to a 13-3 lead after holding the
Leathernecks to 1-of-12 shooting in the first nine minutes of the first half.
WIU got back within five three times in the second half but Taylor hit two free
throws with nine seconds to play in the period to send SUU to the locker room
with a 26-19 advantage.
SUU hit 9-of-18 shots in the half, and 7-of-8 free throws,
while limiting the Leathernecks to 7-of-24 shooting (.292). Heuir hit 4-of-6
shots in the first half to lead all scorers with 10 points and he also had a
game-high five rebounds as the Thunderbirds held a 17-10 rebounding edge at the
break.
-- SUU --
