CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The Thunderbird men's basketball team completed a sweep of in-state rival Weber State on Thursday night, and led the entire way leading to a 65-53 victory.
The victory moved the Thunderbirds back above .500, sitting at 11-10 overall and 6-6 in the Big Sky with another league matchup on Saturday.
The T-Birds are 7-2 at home this season.
"Obviously it was a huge win for the program," SUU head coach Todd Simon said following the contest. "Weber for so many years has been the class of the Big Sky, an in-state rival, the whole deal. To get that in-state sweep was extra sweet for our guys."
The Thunderbirds scored the first basket, and led by as many as 11 in the opening half. WSU went on a 5-0 run to close out the opening 20 minutes, and the T-Birds led 33-27 at half time.
SUU led throughout the second half as well, but with 57 seconds to play the Wildcats had cut the lead to five. However, the Thunderbirds made the right plays and big plays by freshman T-Birds secured the victory for SUU.
Freshman Harrison Butler was the catalyst for the Thunderbirds, securing a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds. Three of his rebounds were offensive. Fellow freshman Maizen Fausett finished the game with six offensive rebounds, several of which came down the stretch of the contest when the team needed them most.
Dre Marin finished the contest with 15 points, and drew WSU's Jerrick Harding defensively for most of the evening. Harding only scored eight points in the contest, finishing 2-of-14 from the field.
"That's a great program, they have a lot of history, they're well coach, and we knew we had to stay consistent and get good shots and that's what we did," Marin said.
The T-Birds outscored the Wildcats in the paint 28-18, and in second chance points 11-0.
With the loss the Wildcats move to 14-9 on the year and 8-4 in Big Sky play.
The Thunderbirds will continue their Big Sky slate on Saturday as they host the Bengals of Idaho State at 2 p.m. inside the America First Event Center.
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.
Individual game tickets for the 2018-19 Season are available at
www.tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center Ticket Office.
Plays of the Game
