CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah men's basketball team opened their 2021-22 season Tuesday night with a 116-74 win over Bethesda University. The Thunderbirds extended their home winning streak to 16 games with the win and have not lost a game in Cedar City since February 27, 2020.
"It was a good opening night for us. We got a lot of guys minutes and finally got a chance to play somebody else," head coach Todd Simon said. "We played the tempo we wanted to play and we got a lot of shots up. We have to take care of the ball a little better and we have some other things we need to do a little better, but overall a good night for us."
Dre Marin led the Thunderbirds offensively with 20 points. He also went six-for-six from the free throw line and had four rebounds and three assists. Maizen Fausett put up his first double-double of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Three other T-Birds put up double-digits in scoring as Tevian Jones scored 18, John Knight III scored 16, and Aanen Moody scored 15.
As a team, the Thunderbirds shot 45.0 percent while holding the Flames to 29.6 percent from the floor. They scored 44 points in the paint and 25 points off of Bethesda turnovers.
"We just wanted to play hard. We wanted to defend and keeping them under 30 percent for the game was important for us," Simon said. "We got 72 rebounds which was an important part of what we wanted to do. We also got the chance to get everybody in and get those first game jitters out."
The Thunderbirds started a little slow, missing six of their first nine shots and even trailing the Flames by two points at 4-6. Southern Utah quickly took back control, only letting the Flames lead for 47 seconds. A layup from Knight III gave the T-Birds a 10 point lead with 9:50 left to play.
By the end of the first half, Southern Utah had built a 50-28 lead. Fausett, Knight III, Marin, and Jones all had nine points in the opening half.
The Thunderbirds really got things rolling towards the end of the second half. They went on a 16-7 scoring run with just over six minutes left to play. Nick Fleming and Harrison Butler both threw down dunks as Southern Utah turned up the heat.
They rolled on to a 42-point win, their largest margin of victory over the Flames since 2019-20.
"It was great to have live bodies back in the seats and have that excitement when you get on a run. We have a great student section," Simon said. "They turn 6-0 runs into 12-0 runs and it impacts the game like no other sport because they are right on top of the floor. It was a big factor in us continuing to thrive at home."
The Thunderbirds will be back in action on Friday November 12 against Dixie State in St. George.
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.
