CEDAR CITY, Utah - Saturday night was Senior Night inside the Centrum Arena, as the Thunderbirds hosted the Idaho State Bengals in their home finale while honoring four players for their careers with the program.

The Bengals were able to top the T-Birds 89-71 to close out SUU's home slate.

Travon Langston, Christian Thompson, Casey Oliverson and A.J. Hess were all honored for their service to the program.

Langston said there were a lot of emotions going into, during, and after the game.

“It was unforgettable,” he said. “Just thinking that this will be my last time playing in the Centrum. I love these guys to death, my teammates, I love them and it was emotional, but I just had to stick through it and play.”

Thompson echoed several of Langston's comments, and said Senior Night came way too fast.

“It was bittersweet,” he said. “I love these guys to death and I had a great time out there tonight, I feel like we played well, it just came too fast for me.”

With under a minute to play Robinson subbed out the three seniors in uniform as a curtain call for the trio. Oliverson said that was when the emotions took over.

“There's nothing better than going out and playing with these guys,” he said. “It didn't hit me until I came out in the last 30 seconds.”

Hess missed the majority of the season with an injury, but coach said he still brought a lot to the team throughout the season.

When asked what the players would miss about the Centrum, it was a consensus answer: “The fans.”

SUU head coach Nick Robinson said the night carries a lot of weight for both players and coaches.

“It's exciting to be able to recognize them and honor the contributions they've made to this team, to the university, to the fans,” he said. “But it's also a struggle, because as a coach you want so badly for them to be successful academically, socially, on the court, but more importantly as a person.”

ISU wasted no time getting started, taking an early 11-4 lead, but scores on three straight possessions got the T-Birds right back in it.

The contests would remain close for the majority of the first half, until the closing minutes of the opening half when Idaho State went on a 10-0 run that was eventually snapped by a jump hook by Casey Oliverson. The momentum ISU created gave them a 42-29 lead at the half.

Geno Luzcando and Ethan Telfair both hit double-figure scoring in the first half for ISU, with 13 and 11 points respectively.

The Bengals kept the sharp shooting up in the second half, coming right out of the gate and knocking down a pair of three-pointers and forcing the Thunderbirds to call timeout trailing by 19.

As the half continued the Bengals upped their lead to as many as 22 points, but the Thunderbirds fought back.

With just under 10 minutes to play the Thunderbirds went on a 7-0 run to cut the Bengal lead to 11 with six and a half minutes to play, but the Bengals would eventually retaliate with a 9-0 run and eventually took the contest 89-71.

James McGee led the Thunderbirds with 18 points hitting four shots from behind the three-point line. Oliverson had 10, Langston had nine points and seven rebounds and Thompson finished with eight points and led the team with eight rebounds.

The Bengals shot 57 percent for the game, compared to SUU's 40 percent.