RIVERSIDE, Calif. After a rare week-long mid-season break, the Southern Utah men's basketball team managed to stave off an upset bid by California Baptist with a gritty 72-71 victory on Wednesday, Feb. 1 on the road.
SUU improved its record to 16-7 with an 8-2 mark in Western Athletic Conference action. The Lancers fell to 13-10 and 5-5 in WAC play with the loss. The win moved SUU ahead, 2-1, in the lifetime series against CBU having last defeated the Lancers, 90-78, on Dec. 19, 1998. SUU has now won six of its last seven contests.
Career-Scoring Charts
Sophomore guard Drake Allen led five Thunderbirds in double-figure scoring with 15 points to go along with four assists and three rebounds.
Senior guard Tevian Jones continued his explosive second-half performances with eight points in the second half to push his game tally to 12. He also nearly had a double-double with eight rebounds and four assists of his own. Jones pushed his career scoring tally in a Thunderbird uniform to 1,235 as well as 1,333 as an NCAA Division I player thanks to time spent at Illinois as well.
Sophomore center Jason Spurgin had a strong night as well with 11 points and five rebounds, while senior forward Maizen Fausett and senior guard Harrison Butler each scored 10 points. Fausett (7) and Butler (8) also had strong nights on the boards.
Fausett (1,388) and Butler (1,324) continued to move closer to former teammate Dre Marin's third-ranked career tally of 1,434 points from 2017-22.
Points
1,710; Davor Marcelic (1989-1992)
1,568; Jeff Monaco (1997-2001)
1,434; Dre Marin (2017-2022)
1,388; Maizen Fausett (ACTIVE)
1,324; Harrison Butler (ACTIVE)
1,300; James McGee (2014-2018)
1,297; Richard Barton (1989-1993)
1,273; Jackson Stevenett (2010-2013)
1,235; Tevian Jones (ACTIVE)
1,223; John Knight III (2019-2022)
1,205; Davis Baker (2007-2010)
TBird Tidbits
- Southern Utah out-shot CBU, 50-43 from the field and 36-26 from beyond the arc. However, the T-Birds managed to score five more free throws than the Lancers en route to victory.
- The Thunderbirds had an advantage in the paint, outscoring the Lancers, 46-42.
- The close contest featured 16 lead changes and 13 ties.
First Half
Southern Utah opened up with a 4-0 burst during the initial 1:18 of play as Tevian Jones drained a pair of free throws and Maizen Fausett sank a jumper at the 18:42 mark. CBU, however, ran off a 10-2 run during the next 2:57 of play to lead, 10-6, heading into a media time with 15:45 on the clock.
After Jason Spurgin split a pair at the line thanks to a technical foul by CBU prior to the media time, Parsa Fallah knotted the score up at 10-10 with 15:14 to go thanks to an old-fashioned three-point play.
The squads traded buckets with the teams still tied at 14-14 with 13:33 to go before Fausett drilled a three-pointer to put the 'Birds up, 17-14, with 13:31 to go. That triggered a quick 5-0 spurt from SUU as Fallah converted a layup at the 12:38 mark to put Southern Utah up, 19-14.
The Lancers responded coming out of the media timeout with a 7-0 run to capture a 21-19 lead with 10:51 to go. Drake Allen stopped the bleeding with an old-fashioned three-point play of his own with 9:43 to go as the 'Birds went up, 22-21. Dee Barnes followed with a clutch trifecta to extend the run to 6-0 as SUU went up, 25-21, with 9:07 to go. CBU managed to cut the SUU advantage to 25-23 with 8:43 before the next media timeout at 7:53 on the clock.
CBU beat the buzzer again with another three-pointer to regain the lead, 26-25, with 7:33 to go. The teams continued to trade shots during the following few minutes before Allen sank a tough layup to put the 'Birds up, 29-28, with 5:56 to go. Allen matched a CBU jumper with another layup in the lane to retake a 31-30 advantage with 4:57 to go.
After an old-fashioned three-point play by CBU to grab a 33-31 lead, Harrison Butler keyed a 5-0 run for Southern Utah with a layup before Cameron Healy canned a triple as the T-Birds moved up 36-33 with 3:36 on the clock. CBU, however, responded with a three of its own to tie the contest up at 36-36 before Jones sank a jumper to move SUU back up, 38-36, with 2:18 to go.
After the final media timeout of the first frame, Allen continues his scorching play with a thunderous dunk to put the 'Birds up, 40-36, with 1:19 to go. Allen then drew the defense driving through the lane before dishing to Fausett for the wide-open layup to take a 42-36 lead with 12 seconds to go. CBU had just enough time on the clock to sink a layup of its own to close out the half with SUU up, 42-38.
Second Half
Drake Allen opened the second stanza where he left off, driving into the lane with a layup to improve SUU's lead to 44-38 with 19:35 on the clock. After a CBU layup, Harrison Butler raced his way to his own layup as well to stake SUU to a 46-40 advantage with 18:21 to go.
The Lancers countered with an old-fashioned three-pointer again to pull to within three points before Tevian Jones unleashed a monstrous dunk to take a 48-43 lead with 18:13 on the clock.
CBU turned in a quick 4-0 run to close to within a point before Maizen Fausett converted a layup with 15:41 to stretch the SUU lead to 50-47 heading into a media timeout.
The Lancers continued to come out of media timeouts in a strong way, knotting the game up at 50-50 with a trey at the 15:13 mark. Butler responded with a layup with 13:41 to go as the 'Birds went up, 52-50. CBU, however, turned in a trifecta to take a 53-52 lead with 13:14 to go. Cameron Healy had a three-pointer of his own to retake a 55-53 advantage with 12:59 to play.
After the Lancers tied the contest at 55 apiece, Butler put the 'Birds up 57-55 with 11:24 to go before CBU tied it up at 57-57 with 11:00 heading into another media timeout. The teams traded shots with both squads standing at 59 points with 10:28 on the clock.
Jason Spurgin scored again with a strong dunk with 9:35 as the 'Birds went up 61-59. Jones dished the ball to Spurgin for another dunk as SUU went up, 63-59, with 9:01 to play. After a pair of missed Spurgin free throws, Butler slammed home a dunk to take a 65-59 advantage with 8:21 on the clock.
After a quick two from CBU, Jones sank a deep three-pointer to extend the lead to 68-61 for the T-Birds with 6:31 to go. CBU then went on a 4-0 run to move to within three points, 68-65, with 4:17 to play.
Fausett split a pair of free throws at the 3:16 mark with SUU up, 69-65. The Lancers responded with another 4-0 answer to tie the game at 69-69 with 2:03 on the clock. CBU kept up the pressure with a free throw to take a 70-69 lead at the 1:44 mark. The Lancers pushed the run to 6-0 with another free throw to take a 71-69 advantage with 1:19 to go.
Jones, however, drained a circus layup to tie the game at 71-71 before following that up with a successful And 1 at the charity stripe as Southern Utah took a 72-71 lead. Butler picked off the Lancers with 21 seconds to play, but missed the following free throw.
Missed free throws seemed to be contagious as CBU missed a pair with three seconds on the clock. Spurgin missed the following free throw with .9 to play. CBU missed the ensuing shot as the Thunderbirds survived the contest with a 72-71 victory.
Notable Plays
Next Up
Southern Utah heads back to Utah with a contest against Utah Tech in St. George on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. MT.
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