CEDAR CITY, Utah – In front of an electric crowd at the America First Event Center Wednesday night, John Knight III and Maizen Fausett combined for 31 points to give the Southern Utah University men's basketball team its fourth-straight win over in-state rival Utah Valley by a score of 60-56.
The win pushed the Thunderbirds to 6-3 overall on the season and extended their winning streak to five games. The Wolverines dropped to 7-2 for the year with the setback and saw their seven-game winning streak snapped.
"This is a fun rivalry," said SUU head coach Todd Simon. "Obviously this was a big game, and it's good to be back home after a seven-game road swing. We knew this game was going to be an absolute battle. They're very physical and we're very physical, and we figured it was going to happen on the defensive end. To our credit, they did a phenomenal job defending and found a way to win on our home floor which we've done a great job of for a long stretch now."
Knight and Fausett led the way for the T-Birds on the night with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Fausett went the distance for SUU and played all 40 minutes while also adding five rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist. Dre Marin and Tevian Jones also gave the Thunderbirds a lift by scoring nine points apiece. Marin's six rebounds were second to Nick Fleming who came off the bench to record seven crucial rebounds.
Utah Valley jumped out to a 9-2 lead to open the game and appeared to have all the momentum in the early going. After a layup from Knight stopped the bleeding, Marin swung the momentum back into SUU's favor by completing a four-point play when he nailed a 3-point shot despite getting fouled. The free throw closed the gap to just one point and the T-Birds were right back in the game. The rest of the opening half was tight as both teams made runs and traded leads, but the Thunderbirds took a 33-28 advantage into the locker room at the break.
Southern Utah quickly upped its lead to eight to start the second half courtesy of five-consecutive points from Jones, but UVU took their turn at a run and fought back to take the lead. Utah Valley's All-American candidate Fardaws Aimaq scored seven in a row to put the Wolverines up by one.
The rest of the game was tight, but a 9-2 burst by the Thunderbirds gave them enough breathing room to close out the win in the final minutes. SUU center Jason Spurgin threw down dunks against Aimaq on back-to-back possessions to send the crowd into a frenzy, and Fausett drained a three to put SUU up by seven. Utah Valley fought hard to trim the deficit to three points, but Knight drained a free throw in the closing seconds to give Southern Utah a two-possession lead and put the game out of reach.
The T-Birds will stay at home for their next contest when they face Saint Katherine on Saturday, December 11. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. MT and the game can be viewed on ESPN+.
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