Cedar City, Utah - The Thunderbird men's basketball team picked up their third straight win Saturday inside the Centrum Arena, knocking off Bristol University 79–41.

SUU has now picked up three straight victories, with wins over La Verne, Utah Valley University and the Bears of Bristol.  

The Thunderbirds jumped out against the Bears early, putting up 11 points before Bristol got on the board. The T-Birds continued to dominate as the period rolled along, outscoring the Bears 40–8 by the half.

“The first couple of possessions I wasn't too pleased with, we called a timeout, made some great adjustments and from there the guys did a great job of executing on both sides of the floor,” SUU head coach Nick Robinson said about the first half.

At the break the Thunderbirds were shooting 63 percent from the field and the Bears were shooting just 10 percent. The Thunderbirds has 16 points come from off the bench, and all of Bristol's production came from the bench.

Thunderbird guard John Marshall said the defensive effort in the first half was a big factor.

“We held them to only eight points in the first half which is really good for us,” he said. “We've been letting teams score a lot so that was big time for us, playing defense, rebounding and executing on offense is what it came down to.”

After 20 minutes Trey Kennedy and Christian Thompson both had eight points and all but one player that entered the contest for SUU scored. SUU also had 10 assists on 15 made baskets in the first period.

The Bears shot the ball better in the second half, upping their percentage to 31.4, but weren't able to make a huge cut into the SUU lead as SUU stayed in front by a large margin and took the contest 79–41.

Thompson finished with a career-high in points with 16, along with pulling in seven rebounds. Kennedy finished with 14, James McGee finished with 13 and Race Parsons finished with a double-double scoring 12 points and 11 rebounds. Travon Langston nearly had another double-double, finishing with nine points and 12 boards.

Thompson said the team came together and put a great product out on the court Saturday.

“I was just out there having fun,” he said. “We had a great game and I had fun playing with the guys tonight.”

Robinson said he was impressed with Thompson's performance.

“He came in and was aggressive from the start,” he said. “He was on the floor a couple of times and he was executing defensively and he didn't turn the ball over, he was doing everything we asked him to do and he played extremely well. His teammates got him in situations where he could be successful and he took advantage.”

Michael Johnson finished as the Bears leading scorer, dropping in 11 points on four-of-seven shooting.

Next up for the Thunderbirds will be a three game road trip, which will involve contests against St. Mary's, IUPUI and Butler. Robinson said his team is excited for the challenge.

“We've got a great road trip ahead of us,” he said. “Our guys are excited for the opportunity to prepare, starting Monday, we'll get a chance to enjoy this win over the weekend but our emphasis is going to be one game at a time. Disciplined execution, being aggressive, taking care of the ball and sharing the ball.”

The T-Birds are set to tip-off against St. Mary's on December 16th at 8 p.m.