BERKELEY, Calif. - The Southern Utah men's basketball team took Pac-12 foe California to double overtime Thursday night in Berkeley, but ultimately fell to the Golden Bears 75-68.
It was the T-Birds' first double-overtime game since they beat Nebraska in 2019 and just their second game that went to multiple overtimes since their triple-overtime win over Montana State in the Big Sky Tournament in 2017.
John Knight III provided a large portion of the offense for the Thunderbirds, scoring 31 points, the highest individual scoring mark in the Big Sky Conference so far this season. The Mississippi native also had three steals and was only off the court for 49 seconds of play during the entire contest.
Four of the five starters for the Thunderbirds played for more than 44 minutes and all five combined for 65 of Southern Utah's 68 points. Dre Marin was the leading rebounder for SUU, pulling down a career-high 10 rebounds.
Southern Utah led for most of the game and it started in the opening minutes as they held the Golden Bears off the board for the first six minutes of play, jumping out to a 4-0 lead early. They pushed that lead to six before California went on a 10-0 scoring run to make it 13-9 in favor of the home team.
The Thunderbirds stuck around and even tied the game three times before a Cal three-pointer gave them a 29-27 lead with 2:09 left in the first half. However, Southern Utah would close out the opening half on a 6-0 scoring run and go into halftime with a 33-29 lead.
The T-Birds picked up where they left off coming out of halftime, putting up five unanswered points and pushing their lead to nine. By the 13:44 mark, Southern Utah had their biggest lead of the game at 44-34, but it didn't last long as the Golden Bears rattled off eight unanswered, cutting the lead to two.
With 8:33 left, California took their first lead of the half, but a three-pointer from Maizen Fausett gave Southern Utah the lead back. From there the teams were tied up three more times until the Golden Bears scored with 28 seconds remaining to go up by two. Ten seconds later, Fausett would drive to the basket and get a layup to go, tying the game at 57-57. Cal would have the final chance to score in regulation, but a block from Marin would send the teams to overtime.
Both teams went back-and-forth in the first overtime period and Fausett drained another three with 25 seconds to play to put the T-Birds up by two. The Golden Bears would go on to sink a jumper on the other end, forcing double overtime.
A 10-0 scoring run and four turnovers from the Thunderbirds would give California all the power they needed to put the Thunderbirds away in the second overtime period, as they walked away with the 75-68 victory.
The Thunderbirds will next head to Fort Myers, Florida to compete in the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off starting on Tuesday November 23.
Tickets
Southern Utah men's basketball season tickets and single game tickets can now be purchased for the 2021-22 season at tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center box office.
Individual and group tickets for the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off are now available to purchase through fortmyerstipoff.com/tickets or by calling (239) 481-4849. The Thunderbirds will be competing in the Palms Division of the tournament on November 23 and 24 in Fort Myers, Florida.
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Stay up to date during the 2021-22 Southern Utah Men's Basketball season by following @SUUBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Basketball page on Facebook.
