Men's Basketball 1/20/2012 5:38:00 AM SUU Strategic Communication

Thunderbirds Fall at Home to Oakland

CEDAR CITY, Utah – Jan. 19 – Oakland came away with a 72 -63 victory over Southern Utah on Thursday night after holding the Thunderbirds to their second-lowest shooting percentage of the season. SUU was only able to convert on 37.9% of it field goal attempts and gave up a season high 35 trips to the free throw line. The Golden Grizzlies relied heavily on the scoring of senior guard Reggie Hamilton who posted a game-high 21 points. The Summit League's leading scorer was just shy of his season average, going 5-14 from the floor and 9-10 from the foul line.

Both teams appeared to be evenly matched in the game's opening minutes as the two sides traded baskets until a three-pointer by Ray Jones Jr. tied the score at seven just three minutes into the contest. Moments later a pair of free throws from Hamilton leveled the score at 11-11 near the 13-minute mark.

Oakland then went on to tally a 9-2 run over the next seven-minutes to take a 20-13 advantage. The Grizzlies held SUU to a pair of Matt Massey free throws while Hamilton and Travis Bader connected from the outside to put the visitors out in front by seven.

The Thunderbirds quickly narrowed the margin as Jones and Damon Heuir hit a pair of shots from behind the arc to pull their team within four at 25-21. OU then ran off eight straight to up its advantage to 12 for its largest lead of the ball game. Southern Utah was able to close the half with a 5-0 run as Jaren Jeffrey dropped in a lay-up and Wade Collie knocked down a three-pointer to make the score 33-26 at the break.

Hamilton lifted the Golden Grizzlies offense early on, putting up 12 points in the first period. SUU was able to hang around thanks to its solid outside shooting after going 4-7 from three in the opening half.

Southern Utah got a quick basket by Jackson Stevenett and a pair of free throws from Heuir to get back within four early in the second half, but Oakland pushed the advantage back to eight as Ryan Bass put in a lay-up to make the score 40-32 near the 15-minute mark.

Ramell Taylor would then score back-to-back baskets to spark a 10-5 run for SUU that saw the Thunderbirds pull within three at 45-42 halfway through the final period. The score remained close for the next few minutes until the Grizzlies got a three from Travis Bader followed by a lay-up by Corey Petros to go up by a count of 57-48.

Oakland held the advantage throughout the remainder of the game, holding off the Thunderbirds attempts at a comeback. Southern Utah would draw within four after a three-pointer by Taylor and a fast break lay-up for Jordan Johnson made the score 65-61, but the Grizzlies outscored SUU 7-2 in the final two-minutes to claim the 72-63 victory.

The Golden Grizzlies held a significant advantage at the foul line in the game, as they converted 22 of 35 attempts while the Thunderbirds only took 14 free throws. Oakland also won the battle on the boards, outrebound SUU by a final count of 34-29.

Ramell Taylor put up 17 points for Southern Utah in a losing effort while Damon Heuir chipped in 11. In addition to Hamilton's 21, Oakland got 14 from Laval Lucas-Perry and another 13 by Corey Petros.

With the win the Grizzlies improve to 5-4 in the Summit League and 11-10 overall. Oakland also moves ahead of SUU in the conference standings as the Thunderbirds drop to 4-5 in conference play and 9-10 on the season.

Southern Utah will be back in the Centrum this Saturday as part of a college basketball double header. The SUU women will start things off as they square off against IPFW at 5 p.m. followed by the men's game against the Mastodons at 7:30.

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Players Mentioned

#34 Matt Massey: C; 6' 9"; Senior

#13 Ramell Taylor: SF; 6' 5"; Senior

#32 Wade Collie: SF; 6' 6"; Junior

#3 Damon Heuir: G; 6' 2"; Senior

#25 Jordan Johnson: G; 6' 3"; Senior

#21 Jackson Stevenett: F; 6' 4"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#34 Matt Massey
: 6' 9"; Senior
: C

#13 Ramell Taylor
: 6' 5"; Senior
: SF

#32 Wade Collie
: 6' 6"; Junior
: SF

#3 Damon Heuir
: 6' 2"; Senior
: G

#25 Jordan Johnson
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

#21 Jackson Stevenett
: 6' 4"; Senior
: F