FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Southern Utah men's basketball team opened play in the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off Tuesday morning with an 88-85 overtime win over reigning Ivy League champs Yale University.
"I'm proud of the guys. It was an absolute battle out there. We only had the lead for like four minutes, but we just kept coming," head coach Todd Simon said. "We've been through a lot of these. A lot of these games, especially when you start getting to this point in the season, turn into one or two possession games. We just try to focus on controlling our attitudes and effort on the court in those situations. Credit to Yale, they are a fantastic team. I think that is a tournament team when this is all said and done."
Big Sky Preseason MVP Tevian Jones was the leading scorer in the game, scoring 24 points and tying his career high with six three-pointers made. Maizen Fausett was one rebound short of his second double-double of the season, scoring 20 points and pulling down nine rebounds. The senior also knocked down three free throws with 13 seconds left to play to send the game to overtime.
John Knight III also hit double-digits in scoring, putting up 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Knight III hit three free throws in the final seconds of overtime to give the T-Birds the win.
As a team, the Thunderbirds shot 45.3 percent from the floor, their best field goal percentage of the season. They also knocked down 12 three-pointers, their highest mark in a Division I matchup so far this season. They only led for 4:27 and erased a 12-point Bulldog lead in the second quarter.
The Thunderbirds opened the game with back-to-back buckets from Jason Spurgin and Knight III to take a quick 4-0 lead. The two teams proceeded to trade scores until Yale went on a 9-0 scoring run to make it 14-9 after the first five minutes of play. The Bulldogs held their lead until the 6:00 mark when Fausett tied the game at 30-30 with a three-pointer. However, the T-Birds wouldn't be able to take the lead back as Yale continued to keep them at arm's length.
Yale would go into the halftime break with a 39-33 lead.
The Bulldogs' biggest lead of the game came with 18:02 left in regulation as Jalen Gabbidon drained a three to make it 47-35. That sparked a huge scoring run for the Thunderbirds though, as they outscored Yale 16-2 over the next six minutes of play and took a 51-49 lead. The Bulldogs were able to rebuild their lead and with 2:57 remaining found themselves up 69-60.
Southern Utah hit three consecutive shots from beyond the arc to cut the lead to two, and with 33 seconds left were trailing by just three points. Fausett drew a shooting foul on a three-point attempt with 13 seconds remaining and knocked down all three free throws to tie the game and send it to overtime.
In the overtime period, the Bulldogs built a five-point lead with 1:34 left to play, but two free throws from Knight III and another three from Fausett would tie the game at 82-82. A three-point play from Knight III would put the T-Birds up by two, but Yale would draw a shooting foul and knock down the ensuing free throws to tie the game at 85-85 with just two seconds left to play.
With .08 seconds remaining before the teams would go to double-overtime, Knight III drew a shooting foul at three-point range. He hit all three free throws to seal the victory for the Thunderbirds and send them to the championship game of the tournament.
Southern Utah will play tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. Mountain time in the Palms Division Championship Game against the winner of today's matchup between Bowling Green and Milwaukee.
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.
