ST. GEORGE — The Southern Utah men’s basketball team found a way to win down the stretch with an 81-79 victory against the Rice Owls at the Discount Tire College Basketball Invitational on Monday in Daytona Beach, Fla.
No. 4 Southern Utah’s record improved to 24-12, while No. 12 Rice ended the season 19-16.
The Thunderbirds next face No. 8 Eastern Kentucky in a semifinal matchup Tuesday at 5 p.m. MT, while No. 3 Charlotte and No. 10 Radford square off at 7 p.m. MT in the other semifinal. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN2.
According to a news release, senior guard Tevian Jones’ 27 points tied the previous school record set by Dre Martin against Kent State during last year’s Basketball Classic. And it was Jones who once again provided late-game heroics for SUU.
Sophomore center Jason Spurgin nearly became the first Thunderbird to have two double-doubles in postseason play with nine points and 10 rebounds Monday. He also blocked three shots.
The T-birds led by as many as 12 points in the first half against Rice. The Owls found themselves down right away as Jones wasted little time with a layup 11 seconds into the game. Maizen Fausett followed with a trey, Spurgin scored on a fast-break layup and Harrison Butler also hit a short shot to put SUU up 9-0 barely 2 minutes into the contest.
Rice, however, settled in and battled back, pulling within 17-12 at the 14:52 mark. But Southern Utah responded as Dee Barnes and Cameron Healey hit 3-balls and Jones added two more of his 20 first-half points to extend the lead. And by halftime, the Thunderbirds appeared in control, up 49-37.
Jones, Fausett, Healy, Barnes and Drake Allen kept the scoring balanced as the Thunderbirds traded baskets with the Owls, and SUU was in good shape with a 66-53 lead at 8:15 to go
But Rice had other ideas.
With the Thunderbirds leading 75-65 with 2:21 on the clock, the Owls cut the margin to 75-68 with another old-fashioned 3-pointer before Fausett sank a pair of charities to extend the SUU lead to 77-68 with 2:04 to go. Rice missed a pair at the line before the Thunderbirds called a timeout with 1:43 remaining.
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 called timeout after making a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 79-74 with 1:13 remaining.
The Owls wouldn’t go away and chopped the lead to 79-76 with 52 seconds on the clock after a pair of missed SUU free throws. Rice then knotted the game 79-79 with a 3-pointer with 24 seconds to play.
But Jones made a clutch contested turnaround jumper with 4 seconds on the clock for an 81-79 triumph and watched Rice airball a 3-pointer to close the contest.
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