CEDAR CITY, Utah – In a game that was back and forth all night, the Southern Utah University men's basketball team used a 13-0 run in the closing minutes to gain the separation it needed to knock off Portland State, 86-76, Monday night at the America First Event Center.
The win was Southern Utah's 10th of the season and pushed the Thunderbirds to 4-1 in Big Sky play. Portland State fell to 4-9 with the loss and 2-3 in league competition. Monday also marked SUU's first game in 16 days due to COVID-related postponements.
"It was a good team effort after a 16-day layoff," said SUU head coach Todd Simon. "You expect a little bit of nervous energy after that. We knew if we stayed the course it was going to pay off. Our foul count early was probably a little bit of us being too energetic, but we got our hands back and did a good job down the stretch. Our bench did outstanding coming in and doing great things. Tevian played like the all-league player that he is, and Maizen as well. We shared the ball well, and led to 61.5 percent shooting from the floor, which was a season best for us."
Tevian Jones gave Southern Utah a huge spark to ignite the team's late run. After Dre Marin came up with a clutch steal on what appeared to be a breakaway layup for the Vikings, Jones took the ball coast-to-coast and threw down an electric dunk that got the crowd going. A few possessions later, Jones connected on a three to widen the Thunderbird lead. Those two baskets accounted for five of Jones' 18 points on the night.
Harrison Butler also came in off the bench to give the T-Birds 18 points on the night, but it was Maizen Fausett who led the way with 21 points and 10 rebounds to give him another double-double on the season. John Knight III and Aanen Moody eached pitched in nine points apiece while Marin added six points in his first game of the new year.
It was a slow start for SUU in the first half as Portland State claimed the first seven points of the game. The T-Birds quickly worked their way back in, and led most of the way in the first half. The Vikings made a late run before the halftime buzzer, though, and evened up the score at 39 apiece heading into the locker room break.
The teams traded leads for the first 10 minutes of the second half, before Southern Utah earned an eight-point lead at the 9:25 mark off a huge dunk by Butler. The T-Birds appeared ready to run away with all the momentum on their side, but PSU went on a run of its own and trimmed the deficit to a single point. After a few traded baskets, SUU finally went on its huge run and put the game away in the final-five minutes.
The Thunderbirds will now prepare for another Big Sky home game as they prepare to welcome Idaho State to Cedar City on Saturday, January 22. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN+.
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