CEDAR CITY, UTAH -- It was truly a tale of two halves for the SUU Men's Basketball team in the regular season finale against CBU. Despite trailing by as many as 20 in the first half, the T-Birds were within just two points late in the game but couldn't quite complete the comeback and lost to CBU 82-75 on senior night.

Head Coach Rob Jeter said

Top T-Birds

• True freshman point guard Elijah Duval went off for a career-high 30 points on an impressive 11-17 from the field. He also chipped in four rebounds, four assists, and had four steals.
• Another true freshman, Cale Barclay, has set career-high's in back-to-back games, going for 14 points on 8-9 from the charity stripe.
• Jaiden Feroah scored 14 points on 4-7 from the field and 2-3 from deep. He also snagged six rebounds and dished two assists.

HIGHLIGHTS

Game Recap

The Thunderbirds could not come up with a defensive stop in the first half, allowing CBU to score 45 points on 19-31 from the field. CBU scored on 10 straight possessions in the first half to push the lead to 34-14 with under ten minutes to play.

Elijah Duval kept the T-Birds in the game, making an and-one and knocking down a triple that helped the T-Birds go into the break trailing by just 13.

CBU opened the second half with a 5-0 run, and the lead was back to 17 points for the Lancers, but again, the Thunderbirds answered.

There wasn't one specific run for SUU in the second half, but a slow, methodical, whittling of the deficit, and after two made free throws from Duval, the T-Birds were trailing by just two points.

Unfortunately, SUU couldn't capitalize on a missed three-pointer from CBU, and made free throws down the stretch for the Lancers sealed the victory.

Statistical Recap

SUU was playing without 45% three-point shooter Tanner Hayhurst, and his absence was felt. The T-Birds made just four of their 19 three-point attempts. 

The Lancers are the top rebounding team in the entire conference, and proved that in the game, outrebounding the Thunderbirds 37-29.

SUU only turned the ball over nine times and had 10 assists.

Up Next

The WAC postseason basketball tournament is up next for the Thunderbirds. SUU is locked in the No. 5 seed and will face the No. 4-seeded UT Arlington Mavericks in the Orleans Arena at the 2026 Air Force Reserve WAC Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

The quarterfinal matchup will be on Thursday, March 12, at 7:00 p.m.

TICKETS

Tickets to the 2026 Air Force Reserve WAC Basketball Tournament are available. They can be purchased online at orleans.boydgaming.com.

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