CEDAR CITY, UT -- The Thunderbirds Men's Basketball team closed out non-conference play with an emphatic win over NAIA Antelope Valley, 95-78 on Saturday, Dec 30 in the America First Event Center.
The entire Thunderbirds team was battling a flu bug that traveled throughout the team, Parsa Fallah and Jamari Sibley were unable to play due to the sickness.
Game Recap
The Thunderbirds lead by seven at the half but back-to-back steals by Prophet Johnson to open the second half sparked a run that pushed the lead to 15 and the Thunderbirds never looked back.
Statistical Recap
SUU had a season-high 17 assists, led by Braden Housley with six and Johnson with five. Johnson led the team in rebounds, corralling 13 to go along with 11 points and a double-double for the young transfer. Housley led the team in points as well, pouring in 22, just one off a career-high. Five players scored in double-digits for the Thunderbirds, Dominique Ford had 19, Zion Young with 16 including 4-9 from three, and Chazz Hutchison had 10 points to go along with nine boards.
SUU won the turnover battle 19-10 and in turn outscored the Pioneers 33-6 in points off turnovers. Five different Thunderbirds recorded a steal with Housley and Johnson leading the way at four a piece.
The Thunderbirds shot nearly 50% from the field and just under 40% from three.
"I am proud of how our guys battled tonight, as of yesterday I wasn't sure we were even going to be able to play. We only had five guys able to practice because of sickness. So I am proud of our guys coming out and battling and coming away with a good win at home," said Head Coach Rob Jeter.
"We are out of time in terms of figuring things out, we are into league play, so whatever we have we have to keep going with it. We can score with anybody but we have to learn how to make teams uncomfortable when they're on offense because trading bucket for bucket doesn't work in our league," said, Jeter.
Up Next
The Thunderbirds will continue the rest of league play when the preseason WAC favorite GCU comes to town on Thursday, Jan 4 at 6:30 p.m.
HIGHLIGHTS
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