Box Score

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Thunderbird men's basketball team ended a three game skid on Saturday afternoon, as they knocked off the Idaho State Bengals 84-80 inside the America First Event Center.

In the second half it was a 17-2 run that separated the Thunderbirds from the Bengals, and the team from Cedar City was able to hang on down the stretch and emerge victorious.

The victory moves the T-Birds to 9-13 on the season and 3-8 in the Big Sky Conference.

"There's still a lot of hope," SUU head coach Todd Simon said about his team's mindset after the contest. "The guys are still figuring it all out, putting all the pieces together."

Less than 60 seconds had ticked off the clock to start the contest and SUU's Dwayne Morgan picked up his second foul, dooming him to the bench for the rest of the opening 20 minutes.

Despite losing their second leading scorer, the T-Birds were able to keep it close all half as there was eight ties and five lead changes. The Bengals went into the break leading by one.

The Bengals got hot to start things in the second half, and built their lead to as many as 11 with 10:16 to play. That's when the T-Birds flipped the switch. Southern Utah went on a huge run and built their lead up to seven with two and a half minutes remaining. Despite a late push from the Bengals, the T-Birds were able to prevail with an 84-80 victory.

Despite picking up two early fouls, Morgan was huge in the second half for the T-Birds he scored all 15 of his points in 18 minutes of play, and all of them came after the break.

"It was a good team win, we've been working all week and it payed off this game," Morgan said. "My teammates did a good job embracing me and telling me to stay locked in, and I told myself I wasn't going to get caught up in the officials and that's what I did."

Brandon Better led the T-Birds in scoring with 16 points. Both Jamal Aytes and Christian Musoko finished with 12, and James McGee dropped in 10 points.

"I think it's a big confidence boost for the team," Aytes said after the win. "It shows that when we play together, and truly try to win as a group, we can do anything."

For Idaho State Jared Stutzman finished with 23 points, and Brandon Boyd was able to drop in 22.

The Thunderbirds will only have one contest next week, as they'll be in Flagstaff to take on Northern Arizona on February 10.

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.