LOS ANGELES -- The Thunderbird men's basketball team were back on the road Sunday afternoon, and fell to the Lions of Loyola Marymount University 61-51.
With the result, the T-Birds are now 4-4 on the season. All four losses have come away from Cedar City.
"I thought we showed a little road weariness to a degree," SUU head coach Todd Simon said. "Everything was kind of short, we were a step slow defensively and we've got to be better. We've got to be a little more focused when we're like that."
LMU started hot, as the T-Birds fell behind early 13-5.
As the opening half wore on, the Thunderbirds started to heat up. They embarked on an 8-0 run to take a 25-20 lead over the Lions with roughly four minutes remaining in the opening frame.
The Lions were able to close out the opening half on a 6-0 run to take the lead into the break, sitting on top 33-29.
John Knight III led SUU at the break with nine points. The T-Birds shot just 36 percent in the opening half, compared to LMU's 54 percent.
The Lions carried their momentum into the second half, as they hit back-to-back threes to start off the final 20 minutes. Through LMU's hot shooting, Jakolby Long kept the T-Birds in the contest with a triple of his own and a two-point jumper. The Thunderbirds trailed by seven at the under-16 media timeout.
As the game ticked down under 10 minutes to play the Thunderbirds went over seven minutes without a field goal, and struggled to keep pace with LMU. Ultimately the Lions claimed the 61-51 victory over the T-Birds.
Knight III finished the contest as the leading scorer for SUU, scoring 13 points. He was the only T-Bird to scoring in double-digits.
The T-Birds shot just 34 percent from the field in the contest, and finished 6-of-26 from behind the three-point line. They also had 18 turnovers.
On the flip side, the Lions shot 54 percent from the field and outscored the Thunderbirds 36-18 in the paint.
"With Dwayne fouling our in 15 minutes, along with no David and Andre, that hurt us remarkably inside and they exploited it," Simon said.
Defensively, the T-Birds held LMU's top scorer, Eli Scott, to just six points and 3-of-9 shooting. Scott did have six rebounds and six assists.
"We did a good job on him, but overall we turned the ball over way too much to give ourselves a chance to win on the road," Simon said.
Parker Dortch finished as the top scorer for the Lions with 17 points of 8-of-11 shooting.
When the Thunderbirds are back on the floor they'll be facing off against the Utah Valley Wolverines at home in the America First Event Center.
"We've got to be more focused, take care of the ball and play sound, efficient basketball," Simon said. "We need to do the simple things right in terms of passing, catching, making shots and keeping guys in front of us, and we'll be fine."
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.
