HUNTSVILLE, Texas. The Southern Utah men's basketball team fell against Sam Houston in a defensive slugfest, 64-57, on Saturday, Feb. 25.
Southern Utah's record moved to 19-10 and 11-5 in the Western Athletic Conference. Sam Houston, meanwhile, improved to 22-6 and 12-4 in WAC play with the win.
Career-Scoring Charts
Senior guard Tevian Jones added to his sixth-ranked career scoring tally with 15 points. He has now scored 1,324 points in a Thunderbird uniform and 1,422 in his time as a collegiate player.
Senior guard Harrison Butler scored 10 points to push his fifth-ranked tally to 1,379, while senior forward Maizen Fausett's three points inched his third-ranked total to 1,462.
Points
1,710; Davor Marcelic (1989-1992)
1,568; Jeff Monaco (1997-2001)
1,462; Maizen Fausett (ACTIVE)
1,434; Dre Marin (2017-2022)
1,379; Harrison Butler (ACTIVE)
1,324; Tevian Jones (ACTIVE) (1,422 overall)
1,300; James McGee (2014-2018)
1,297; Richard Barton (1989-1993)
1,273; Jackson Stevenett (2010-2013)
1,223; John Knight III (2019-2022)
1,205; Davis Baker (2007-2010)
T-Bird Tidbits
- Sophomore guard Drake Allen scored 14 points as the third double-digit scorer for the T-Birds
- Sophomore center Jason Spurgin recorded three blocks, pushing his single-season tally to 46. He stands just two blocks behind Kenyatta Clyde's fifth-ranked 48 swats from 1998-99. Matt Hodgson owns the school standard with 64 blocks in 2009-10.
- Fausett collected 10 rebounds to push his school-record career total to 910. He's the first Thunderbird ever to eclipse the 900 mark.
- Butler stands second to Fausett in rebounds with 846 caroms collected.
First Half
After both squads opened with cold shooting before Sam Houston had a tip back at 17:42, Tevian Jones uncorked a triple to put SUU up, 3-2, at the 17:28 mark. Maizen Fausett stretched the lead to 5-2 with a layup at 16:07 to go.
The Bearkats split a pair of free throws coming out of the media timeout before Harrison Butler spun his way to a layup to snatch a 7-3 advantage with 14:54 to play. After a short scoreless stint, Sam Houston drained a three-pointer before Butler answered with a three-pointer of his own to put the 'Birds up, 10-6, with 11:58 to go heading into a media timeout.
The Bearkats answered with a 4-0 run to tie the contest at 10-10 before Dee Barnes sank a sweet jumper with 10:30 to snare a 12-10 lead. Sam Houston then went on a 5-0 spurt to take a 15-12 lead before Jones canned a pair of free throws with 8:11 on the clock to cut the deficit to 15-14. The Bearkats responded with a jumper to take a 17-14 lead with 7:42 on the clock heading into a media timeout.
Sam Houston went on another 6-0 run to grab a 21-14 lead with 4:17 to go before Jones returned to the line to score a pair to pull SUU back to within 21-16 with 4:01 on the clock. Sam Houston responded out of the media timeout with a pair of free throws before Barnes connected from deep to shave the deficit down to 23-19 with 3:32 on the clock. Drake Allen followed with a three-pointer of his own to close to within 23-22 with 2:26 to go.
The Bearkats countered with a jumper before Cameron Healy joined the three-point party with a corner trifecta of his own to tie the contest at 25-25 with 1:46 on the clock. Sam Houston split a pair at the line again before Barnes converted for an old-fashioned three-point play to take a 28-26 advantage with 56 seconds to go. The Bearkats knotted the contest up at 28-28 with a pair from the charity stripe before the clock ran out on the half.
Second Half
Southern Utah started the second stanza fast with a Drake Allen dunk to put SUU up, 30-28, with 19:00 on the clock. Following a Sam Houston trey, Tevian Jones drained a three-pointer of his own to take a 33-31 advantage for SUU with 17:23 to go. Allen then split a pair at the charity stripe to stretch the lead to 34-31 at the 16:32 mark. Sam Houston connected on a jumper to shave the deficit to 34-33 at 16:09 before Sam Houston called a timeout. The Bearkats banked in a jumper to take a 35-34 lead heading into a media timeout with 14:41 on the clock.
Maizen Fausett sank a free throw after a Sam Houston jumper to cut SUU's deficit to 37-35 with 13:10 to go. The Bearkats stretched their lead to 40-35 with an old-fashioned three-pointer with 12:07 on the clock.
After Sam Houston pushed the lead to 43-35, Jones flushed another three-pointer to close SUU within 43-38 at the 10:36 mark. The Bearkats responded with a triple of their own for a 46-38 advantage with 9:43 on the clock. Harrison Butler converted a nifty layup to cut the lead to 46-40 with 8:53 to go. Sam Houston had the counter with a jumper to stretch the advantage to 48-40 with 8:24 on the clock.
After another media timeout. Sam Houston pushed its advantage up to 50-40 before Butler sank a layup to move SUU to within 50-42 with 6:10 on the clock. Sam Houston connected for two at the line to push the lead back up to 52-42 with 5:04 to go. The Bearkats then stretched it to 54-42 before Allen canned a trifecta to pull the 'Birds to 54-45 with 3:53 to go. Sam Houston converted a layup for a 56-45 with 3:29 to play heading into the final media timeout.
Allen responded with a 3-for-3 effort at the charity stripe to close within 56-48 with 3:17 on the clock. Cameron Healy split two at the line as the 'Birds drew to within 56-49 with 2:20 left. Sam Houston turned in a pair at the line before Healy converted an old-fashioned three-point play to move to within 58-52 with 1:13 to play.
Sam Houston closed out the defensive slugfest down the stretch at the line, winning the game by a score of 64-57.
Notable Plays
Next Up
Southern Utah concludes the regular season at home with a pair of contests this coming week. First, the T-Birds face Grand Canyon on Wednesday, March 1 at 7 p.m. MT before Senior Day against California Baptist on Friday, March 3 at 7 p.m. MT.
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Tickets
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