FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Southern Utah men's basketball team were crowned the Palms Division Champions of the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off Wednesday afternoon, beating Bowling Green State 87-73 in the championship game. This is the first ever Multi-Team Event win for the Thunderbirds in the history of the program.
"This is an important deal. These in-season tournaments help prepare you for March Madness," head coach Todd Simon said. "Last year we won the regular season title and we are proud of that and we want to win every game, but we also want to prepare ourselves for the three games in three days scenario at the end of the season."
John Knight III was the leading scorer in the game, scoring 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting. He also pulled down seven rebounds and dished out four assists. Knight III was named the Palms Division Tournament MVP following the conclusion of the tournament.
"The team really kept me motivated. Yesterday I got into foul trouble and had to sit out the first half and today was starting to be the same thing and they kept me in it," Knight III said. "Their energy boosts my energy. When I see my teammates getting in the game and doing all the right things without me out there, I just know that once I get back in I am going to be able to make an even bigger impact in the game."
Maizen Fausett scored 14 points and pulled down nine rebounds and was named to the Palms Division All-Tournament First Team for his performance in both games.
Tevian Jones scored 16 points and Marquis Moore scored 10 points off the bench for the T-Birds.
As a team, the Thunderbirds shot 47.5 percent from the floor, improving on their season-best shooting percentage they set the previous day against Yale. They also had their best defensive performance of the season, holding the Falcons to 38.2 percent shooting and just five total three-pointers.
Southern Utah led for the majority of the game, but found themselves in a tough battle early. Just three minutes into the game, Bowling Green had built a five-point lead. They seemed to have an answer for everything the Thunderbirds threw at them, until Jason Spurgin threw down a huge dunk that led to a 6-0 scoring run for SUU.
They would take their first lead of the game at the 14:14 mark and were able to hold on to it until the Falcons went on a 10-2 run to go up by five with 5:37 left in the opening half. Southern Utah tied things up at 34-34 and then scored eight of the final 12 points in the half to take a 42-38 lead into the break.
The second half was all T-Birds as they shot 50.0 percent while holding the Falcons to just 26.9 percent. They opened the half on an 11-4 scoring run and with 8:49 left to play had built up a 21-point lead. The Thunderbirds were able to maintain that lead down the stretch behind a monster dunk from Knight III and contributions from Moore and Nick Fleming off the bench.
The Falcons hit two three-pointers in the final two minutes of play to cut the lead to 14, but the damage was done and the Thunderbirds were crowned champions.
Southern Utah will now prepare for the start of Big Sky Conference play next week when they travel to Cheney, Washington to take on Eastern Washington on Thursday December 2.
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.
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