DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. The Southern Utah men's basketball team found a way to win down the stretch with an 81-79 victory against Rice at the Discount Tire College Basketball Invitational on Monday, March 20 in Daytona Beach, Fla. Southern Utah's record improved to 24-12, while Rice ended the season 19-16.  

Career Scoring Charts
Senior guard Tevian Jones tied the SUU postseason scoring record with 27 points in a dominant offensive display.  That tied the previous school record of 27 set by Dre Marin against Kent State during last year's Basketball Classic. 

With the effort, Jones moved into sixth all-time in school history, leapfrogging Marin's 1,434 points from 2017-22.  Jones has scored 1,438 in a Thunderbird uniform while boasting 1,535 total points as an NCAA Division I player. 

Senior forward Maizen Fausett closed ever closer to Jeff Monaco for second all-time in school history with 11 points today. He just missed becoming the second T-Bird to post a double-double in postseason play with nine rebounds.  Sophomore center Jason Spurgin set that record in the first round against North Alabama. Fausett now has 1,556 career points, just 12 back of Monaco's 1,568 from 1997-01.  

Senior guard Harrison Butler scored nine against Rice to push his fourth-ranked tally to 1,456 points. 

Career-Scoring Rankings
Points
1,710; Davor Marcelic (1989-1992)
1,568; Jeff Monaco (1997-2001)
1,556; Maizen Fausett (ACTIVE)
1,456; Harrison Butler (ACTIVE)
1,438; Tevian Jones (ACTIVE) (1,535 overall)
1,434; Dre Marin (2017-2022)
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)

Spurgin Strong
Sophomore center Jason Spurgin nearly became the first Thunderbird to have two double-doubles in postseason play with nine points and 10 rebounds today.  He also rejected three shots to add to his impressive season and career tallies. 

Sophomore center Jason Spurgin made history for the Thunderbirds with the first double-double in SUU's postseason history including the NCAA Tournament and Basketball Classic bids.  

Spurgin now has 62 blocks this season to close to within two of Matt Hodgson's school record 64 from the 2009-10 season.  Spurgin also improved his career block tally to 94 to rank fourth in the career record department.  

Spurgin still ranks at the top of the charts with a .613 scoring clip for his career while his effort this year stands fourth in a single season with a .601 success rate. 

Single Season Records
Blocks
64 Matt Hodgson (2009-2010)
62 Jason Spurgin (2022-2023) 
60 Jayson Cheesman (2012-2013)
60 Sean Allen (1994-1995)
53 Sean Allen (1993-1994)

FG % 150 Attempts min.
0.624 John Clifford (2008-2009)
0.613 Casey Oliverson (2014-2015)
0.603 Scott Brown (1978-1979)
0.601 Jason Spurgin (2022-2023)

Career Records
FG % (375 Attempts min.)
0.613 Jason Spurgin (ACTIVE)
0.598 Andre Adams (2018-2020)
0.568 Dana Achtzehn (1990-1992)
0.567 Casey Oliverson (2013-2016)
0.567 Geoff Payne (2007-2008)

Blocks
113 Sean Allen (1993-1995)
99 Matt Hodgson (2009-2011)
98 Ivan Madunic (2016-2021)
94 Jason Spurgin (ACTIVE)
87 Kenyatta Clyde (1997-1999)
84 Jayson Cheesman (2012-2014)

T-Bird Tidbits

• The Thunderbird went 11-27 from beyond the arc, second in postseason play to the 12 made threes against Kent State last year. 
• Jones' 12 made field goals is a postseason school record, bettering the 10 made by Marin against Kent State.  Additionally, Jones' 20 field goal attempts is a record, besting the 19 shots taken by Jeff Monaco against Boston College in the 2001 NCAA Tournament contest. 
• SUU's 42 rebounds are second in school postseason play to the 50 corralled against North Alabama on Saturday. 
• The 24 wins are the second-most in school history behind the 25-6 mark from the 2001 NCAA Tournament Team. 

First Half

Tevian Jones wasted little time flushing a layup to put the 'Birds up 2-0 at 19:49.  Maizen Fausett pushed the lead to 5-0 with a quick three-pointer with 19:03 to go before Jason Spurgin converted a fast-break layup for a 7-0 lead with 18:36 on the clock.  Harrison Butler pressed the pace with a layup of his own to snatch a 9-0 lead with 18:02 to play, forcing Rice into a timeout. 

Rice stopped the run at 9-0 with a layup before Jones answered with a layup of his own to snare an 11-2 advantage with 16:35 to go.  Rice countered with a 6-0 burst to chop the deficit down to 11-8 at 16:03.  Jones responded with a trifecta for a 14-8 lead at 15:42.  After a Rice layup, Jones swished another triple to grab a 17-10 lead with 15:16 on the clock. Rice cut the SUU lead to 17-12 with a jumper at 14:52 before the squads went into a media timeout.

Dee Barnes went deep with a three-pointer for a 20-12 lead at the 14:13 mark before Cameron Healy put down a trifecta of his own to take a 23-12 advantage with 13:34 on the clock.  After a Rice layup, Jones remained on fire with a layup for a 25-14 lead at the 12:29 mark.  Rice made a three as SUU took a 25-17 lead heading into another media timeout.

Rice sank a pair of free throws out of the break to close to within 25-19 before Fausett drilled a jumper to take a 27-19 lead with 10:59 on the clock.  Jones added to the lead with a contested turnaround jumper of his own as the 'Birds grabbed a 29-19 lead with 10:28 to go.  Rice followed with a layup before Jones extended the lead to 31-21 thanks to a layup with 9:10 to go. Spurgin pushed the run to 4-0 with a thunderous dunk to pick up a 33-21 advantage at the 8:30 mark.  

Rice countered with a quick 4-0 burst before Spurgin responded with another layup to stretch the lead to 35-25 with 7:15 on the clock.  After another Rice jumper, Healy drained a triple for a 38-27 advantage at 6:40. Rice hit another jumper to close to within 38-29 with 6:22 to go before the teams went into a media timeout with 5:27 to go. 

Rice split a pair at the line before sinking a three as part of a 6-0 spurt to close to within 38-33 with 4:39 on the clock. Jones stopped the run with a rim-rocking dunk to extend the SUU lead back to 4033 with 3:37 to go. Rice responded with a jumper en route to a 40-35 deficit with 3:16 heading into another media timeout.

Butler replied out of the break with a layup for a 42-35 lead before Jones flushed another layup for a 44-35 advantage at the 2:28 mark.  After a Rice tip-back, Butler sank a step-back three for a 47-37 lead at 1:35.  Fausett followed with a layup as the 'Birds went back up 49-37 with 1:02 on the clock. And, that's how the half would end.

Second Half

Rice scored first coming out of the half before Maizen Fausett responded with a putback layup for a 51-39 lead at 18:39. The teams then had three minutes of scoreless play heading into a media timeout with 15:39 on the clock. 

Rice broke the scoring drought after the break with a layup to shave the deficit to 51-41 with 15:17 to go.  After another two scoreless minutes, Rice tipped back a miss to cut the deficit to 51-43 before Drake Allen ended nearly a six-minute scoring drought for SUU with a dunk to take a 53-43 advantage with 12:50 on the clock.  Jones answered a Rice triple with a turnaround jumper to push SUU back up 55-46 with 11:20 to go as the squads went into a media timeout.

Rice went 1-2 at the line out of the break to shave the lead to 55-47 before Cameron Healy sank a deep triple for a 58-47 advantage at 10:46. Rice responded with a layup before Jones kept adding to his scoring tally with a bank-shot jumper for a 60-49 lead at 10:15. Healy followed a Rice layup with yet another stepback trifecta to push the 'Birds up 63-51 with 8:56 on the clock.  Rice replied with a pair at the line before Dee Barnes drained a trey for a 66-53 lead at 8:15 to go. Rice then sank a jumper to close to within 66-55 before the squads went into a media timeout with 7:37 to play. 

Barnes sank a corner three with 7:01 to go to grab a 69-55 lead and induce a Rice timeout.  Rice connected on a pair at the charity stripe to cut the lead to 69-57 with 6:21 to go.  Spurgin responded with a layup to stretch the advantage back to 71-57 with 6:03 on the clock.  Rice picked up two more points at the line to pull to within 71-59 with 5:02 to go before draining a three to cut SUU's lead to 71-62 with 4:33 on the clock. Spurgin countered with a 1-2 effort at the line as the 'Birds held a 72-62 lead with 4:09 to play before the final media timeout.  

After another minute of scoreless play, Harrison Butler made a pair at the line to put SUU up 74-62 with 2:40 on the clock.  Rice answered with an old-fashioned three-pointer to close to within 74-65 with 2:29 to go. Jones drew a blocking foul then split a pair at the line to take a 75-65 advantage with 2:21 on the clock.  Rice cut the lead to 75-68 with another old-fashioned three-pointer before Fausett sank a pair at the charity stripe to extend the SUU lead to 77-68 with 2:04 to go. Rice missed a pair at the line before SUU called a timeout with 1:43 to go.

Rice completed another layup and 1 to close to within 77-71 with 1:26 on the clock. Healy answered with a pair of free throws to push SUU back up 79-71 with 1:21 to play.  Rice then called timeout after making a three-pointer to cut the lead to 79-74 with 1:13 to go. Rice chopped the lead to 79-76 with 52 seconds after a pair of missed SUU free throws.  Rice then knotted the game at 79-79 with a three-pointer with 24 seconds to play. 

Jones made a clutch contested turnaround jumper with four seconds on the clock for an 81-79 triumph and watched Rice airball a three-pointer to close the contest. 

Notable Plays

Next Up

No. 4 Southern Utah moves on to the semifinals of the Discount Tire College Basketball Invitational to face No. 8 Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday, March 21 at 5 p.m. MT.  Eastern Kentucky is coming off an 89-88 overtime upset of No. 1 Indiana State.

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