Box Score

CEDAR CITY, Utah - It took five extra minutes, but the Thunderbird men's basketball team was able to pick up their second Big Sky Conference victory on Saturday afternoon inside the America First Event Center 66-62 over the Eagles of Eastern Washington.

The victory moves SUU to 8-10 overall, and 2-5 in the Big Sky Conference.

"I was really proud of the guys," SUU head coach Todd Simon said. "We've continued to create an identity and for so long we've been trying to work defensively to get consistent stops and play clean basketball on both ends, and today we didn't make all of our shots but it was clearly a superior defensive effort taking charges, getting on loose balls, finishing plays on the glass the way we need to in key moments and we forced a lot of turnovers."

Balanced scoring early on gave the Thunderbirds a 9-5 lead at the first media timeout, and the T-Birds were able to extend that lead farther jumping ahead 24-14 with 7:55 to play. That leads was thanks to a four-point play by Brandon Better.

Unfortunately for the Thunderbirds, Eastern Washington got going as well. The Eagles used a 10-0 run to tie the game, and the Thunderbirds went into the halftime break with a 35-30 lead.  

The second half was closely contested, as neither team led by more than seven for the final 20 minutes.

The Thunderbirds closed the half on a 6-0 run to eventually force overtime.

"The last five minutes you need a lot of defense, a lot of talk and just win the game," SUU's Dwayne Morgan said about the team's mindset going into OT.  

James McGee opened overtime with a three pointer, and a follow up layup by Jamal Aytes put the Thunderbirds up five. The T-Birds held a lead the entire overtime period, and eventually pulled out a 66-62 victory.

Brandon Better led the Thunderbirds in scoring with 13 points. Aytes finished with 11 points and Jadon Cohee dropped in nine.

Both Dre Marin and Cohee finished with four assists in the contest.

McGee is now three points away from being the eighth all-time leading scorer in SUU history.

For Eastern Washington, Bogdan Bliznyuk fouled out with 18 points. He led their scoring efforts on Saturday. Mason Peatling finished with a double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling in 10 rebounds.

Next up for the Thunderbird men's basketball team will be a trip to Montana to take on the Grizzlies and the Bobcats.

Follow the Thunderbirds all season @SUUBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Basketball page on Facebook.

Read all about the Thunderbirds on www.suutbirds.com.

Single game tickets for the 2017-18 SUU men's basketball campaign can be purchased at tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center Ticket Office.