VALPARAISO, IN – Southern Utah dropped its season-opener in a road loss to Valparaiso University on Friday night, 79-65.
“Hats off to Valparaiso who played like the conference champion they were a year ago,” head coach Todd Simon said. “I was proud of our team's effort. We defended well and fought until the end.”
Randy Onwuasor led all scorers with 35 points as Ivan Madunic added 13. James McGee and Race Parsons added eight and seven, respectively.
Onwuasor led the team in assists with five as Madunic knocked two blocks in the loss.
“Randy Onwuasor gave us a tremendous individual performance,” said Simon. “We are pleased with growth from this game and the performance of the six Thunderbirds that made their debut tonight.”
The Thunderbirds took a 13-6 lead over Valparaiso to tip off their season-opener before Valpo took an 11-0 run to take a 17-13 edge over Southern Utah.
The Crusaders hung to a comfortable lead throughout the remainder of the first half, heading into halftime with a 40-28 advantage over the Thunderbirds. Onwuasor led all scorers in the first half with 19 points.
Madunic came out firing in the the second half, scoring eight straight points with two treys and a dunk. Madunic's run cut the gap to 42-36. The Thunderbirds pulled within four with 8:19 to play before the Crusaders extended their lead to six, 64-58, with 5:10 to go.
Valpo rallied in the final minutes to extend their lead to 79-65 at the final buzzer.
Southern Utah shot 37.0% from the field as Valparaiso shot 36.2%.
The Thunderbirds are back in action on Monday night as they take on the University of St. Louis.
