CEDAR CITY, UTAH -- The SUU Men's Basketball team was down by 13 points early in the second half and battled back to take the lead but could not hold on down the stretch and fell to the Texans, 74-66. The Thunderbirds fall to 8-8 on the year and 0-2 to start WAC play. 

Head Coach Rob Jeter said

Top T-Birds

• Brock Felder did it all for the Thunderbirds. Scoring 14 points, secured seven rebounds, and had four blocks, three steals, and an assist. 
• Dominique Ford scored a team-high 21 points on 7-15 from the field.
• Jeffrey "JT" Langston Jr had 10 points and six rebounds off the bench.

Game Recap

Ford scored the first eight points of the game for the Thunderbirds, but SUU found themselves down 18-8 through seven minutes of action. The Texans did a good job of fending off any runs the T-Birds were trying to produce and took a 41-31 lead into the halftime break. Keitenn Bristow led all scorers with 17 points in the first half. 

Bristow opened the second half with a three-pointer on Tarleton State's first possession, and the T-Birds suddenly needed to climb out of a 13-point hole. 

SUU ratcheted up the defensive intensity, making things very hard for the Texans. Tavi Jackson and Brock Felder finished the game with three steals, and at the under-eight media timeout, the Thunderbirds trailed by just one. 

With five minutes left in the game, Jackson drove into the paint with the shot clock winding down and had his shot blocked, but Jamir Simpson dove out of bounds and threw the ball behind his back into the hands of Brock Felder, who laid it up, and the Thunderbirds took their first lead of the game. 

Over the next four minutes, the teams exchanged turnovers and baskets, but with 28 seconds remaining, the Texans took a four-point lead and free-throws the rest of the way led to a 74-66 loss for SUU. 

HIGHLIGHTS

Up Next

The Thunderbirds will be back at home on Saturday to take on the Mavericks of UT Arlington. Tipoff will be at 6:30 p.m. in the America First Event Center.

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