CEDAR CITY, UTAH -- The SUU Thunderbirds earned an incredible 106-105 overtime win in the AFEC against Tarleton State on Thursday night. The win gave Head Coach Rob Jeter his 250th career win. It also snapped a seven-game losing streak and gave the T-Birds their first conference victory of the 2025-26 season.

Head Coach Rob Jeter said

Top T-Birds

• Dylan Jones led the Thunderbirds with 22 points on 6-11 from deep.
• His sharp-shooting teammate Tanner Hayhurst wasn't far behind with 20 points on 6-9 from the field and 6-7 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists.
• Jaiden Feroah fouled out, but made the most of his 26 minutes. Scoring 17 points, pulling down nine rebounds, and recording a steal and a block.

HIGHLIGHTS

Game Recap

The game featured many incredible buckets from both teams.

The Thunderbirds started out the gates on fire from deep. Making four of their first five attempts, with Feroah and Hayurst each making two. After a layup inside from Isaiah Cottrell, Southern Utah was out to a 14-4 lead four minutes into the ball game. But then, Dior Johnson happened. Johnson is a junior transfer guard on Tarleton State that is leading the entire country in points per game, averaging over 25 points per.

Johnson checked into the ball game and immediately sank back-to-back triples and cut the Thunderbirds' lead in half.

The teams exchanged buckets over the next few minutes until Dylan Jones hit back-to-back threes for SUU, pushing the lead back out to nine. A pair of free throws from Jones and a jump-hook from Cale Barclay, and the T-Birds had their largest lead of the game at 13.

Ultimately, the Thunderbirds headed into the break with a 52-44 lead over the Texans.

The second half has been a struggle for SUU all season long, and it was looking like that was going to continue. The Texans opened the half on a 9-4 run, thanks to Johnson, and SUU's lead was just three points.

Made free throws, mixed in with some stops defensively, and the T-Birds pushed their lead back out to 11 with 10:28 remaining in the game. The Texans responded with a 9-0 run, and suddenly the lead was 78-76 for Southern Utah.

TSU tied the game on a Chris Mpaka putback dunk, and SUU responded with a 5-0 run capped off by a triple from Feroah.

Jalen (Roc) Lee got a steal and a layup, which gave SUU a 90-86 lead with 1:33 remaining. Dior Johnson stepped into a walk-up three-pointer and cut the Thundebirds' lead to one.

A missed three-pointer from Feroah gave the Texans the ball, and Dior Johnson finished a layup that gave TSU the lead with 24 seconds left. Feroah was then fouled on an offensive rebound attempt, and he drilled both free throws to give SUU the lead back.

The final ten seconds were complete chaos, as Feroah tied up the Texans and forced a jump ball as the final buzzer sounded. Upon review, there was one second remaining when the jump ball occurred, and the Thunderbirds were called for a foul on an alley-oop attempt that sent Cam McDowell to the free-throw line. McDowell missed the first and made the second to send the game into overtime.

Overtime started with a bang as Dylan Jones drilled a deep triple for his sixth three-pointer of the night, and SUU was up early. Dior Johnson fouled out in the extra period, and the Texans looked to McDowell to lead them, and he did just that. After the team exchanged buckets, a three-pointer from McDowell gave TSU a 105-103 lead with 15 seconds left.

True freshman point guard Elijah Duval was fouled and would head to the line with a chance to tie the game. Duval made the first and then missed long on his second attempt, but he was able to rebound his own miss and was fouled again. He would step to the line again, this time with a chance to win the game. Duval made both free throws, and the T-Birds had a 106-105 lead with six seconds remaining. The Thunderbirds forced a miss on defense and emerged victorious in a wild and high-scoring WAC contest.

Up Next

The Thunderbirds will be back at home in the America First Event Center to take on the Wildcats of Abilene Christian on Saturday, January 17, at 6:30 p.m. Come cheer on the Thunderbirds and help start a winning streak!

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