CEDAR CITY, Utah - Jason Spurgin followed up his best performance of the season with a 14-point, 4-rebound outing, while Dre Marin chipped in 13 points of his own, but the Southern Utah University men's basketball team fell at home to Montana State, 76-71.

"It was a hard-fought game with a lot of intensity. I think rebounding ended up being a real factor for us, we've got to be able to go grab a few more offensive rebounds and get more second-chance points," said Head Coach Todd Simon.

The Thunderbirds (16-9, 10-5) were outrebounded by the Bobcats 37-22, and that proved to be the deciding factor in an otherwise even matchup.

SUU and Montana State traded baskets throughout the entire first half, with neither team being able to put more than five points of separation between the other. There were six ties and eighteen lead changes in total before halftime, with Montana State taking a 33-32 lead going into the break.

The back and forth play continued for much of the second half. The Thunderbirds were able to take a 41-40 lead after two made free-throws by John Knight III with 15:56 to play, but that proved to be the last lead of the game for the T-Birds, as the Bobcats broke open the game shortly after, going on an 11-4 run to take a 56-47 lead with 9:45 to play. 

The Thunderbirds battled back, refusing to let Montana State pull away. A jumper by Aanen Moody cut the lead to two with 4:30 to play, but unfortunately, that was as close as Southern Utah would get, as the Bobcats shot a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line down the stretch to secure the victory.

The T-Birds had five players score in double figures, as Maizen Fausett (12), Harrison Butler (11), and Moody (11) joined Spurgin and Marin to lead the way for SUU.

As a team, Southern Utah shot 43.1 percent from the field (25-58), and 29.2 percent from three (7-24) on the night, as they struggled to find consistency on the offensive end of the floor against the best defensive team in the Big Sky.

Xavier Bishop paced Montana State with a 19-point outing, as the victory kept the Bobcats in sole possession of first place in the Big Sky standings. 

Notable Stats:

• Jason Spurgin had another strong outing, putting up 14 points while holding Jubrile Belo, the Bobcats leading scorer, to 12 points for the game.

• John Knight III led the team in both assists (5) and steals (2).

• The T-Birds were +8 in the turnover margin, forcing 17 Bobcat turnovers for the game.

• Southern Utah went 14-17 from the free-throw line, shooting 82.4% for the contest.

Next Up

The SUU men's basketball team will play their final home game of the season this Thursday, February 24 against Montana, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. MT.

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