CEDAR CITY — The SUU men’s Basketball team played in the America First Event Center for the final time this season and came up just short against the Texans of Tarleton State on Saturday.
“I am really proud of this team, the one thing that has always remained true, is we never stop fighting, and we saw that again tonight,” Thunderbird coach Rob Jeter said. “There were stretches where it seemed like we were down and out, but these guys always keep fighting, which makes me proud.”
Zion Young was a man on fire for the first eight minutes of this ballgame, outscoring the Texans by himself — 23 to 19 — on Senior Night. Ultimately, the Texans were able to battle back and take a 39-37 lead into the halftime break.
Tarleton St was doing all they could to stop Young from getting the ball, and held him to just six points the rest of the night, that led to an 88-83 victory for the Texans.
“Playing in front of the SUU fans this season has been really amazing,” Jeter said. “Wasn’t the season we had hoped for, but you can always feel the love and support for our team, and I am very appreciative of that.”
The Thunderbirds slid to 9-20 on the year, 4-14 in Western Athletic Conference play, and were eliminated from the postseason this year.
Statistical Recap
Young’s career-high 29 points led the way for the Thunderbirds. The other senior, Chazz Hutchison, had his best game in an SUU jersey, scoring 12 points on a perfect 5-5 from the field, pulling down a team-high nine rebounds and tacking on two blocked shots.
Dominique Ford matched his season average of 16 points, adding four rebounds and three assists. Prophet Johnson was big time off the bench, scoring 14 points with two steals.
Up Next:
The Thunderbirds will close out the season on the road in Texas.
The first match against Stephen F. Austin will be played Thursday, March 7, at 5:30 p.m.
The Thunderbirds will then travel to head to Edinburg to take on University of Texas Rio Grand Valley on Saturday, March 9 at 2 p.m.
Women’s basketball
STEPHENVILLE, Texas — The Southern Utah University women’s basketball team came up short against Tarleton State, falling 69-63 on Saturday. The Thunderbirds move to 7-20 overall and 5-13 in Western Athletic Conference play. The Texans improve to 9-18 and 6-12.
“I thought we played hard, we had the effort, we had the energy,” Thunderbirds coach Tracy Mason said. “We needed a few more shots to drop and a few more stops on the defensive end. I was really impressed with Shiho, playing with a broken nose and being absolutely fearless.”
Southern Utah came out strong to start the game. Ava Uhrich opened the scoring for the Thunderbirds, drilling a three pointer at the top of the key with 8:50 on the clock. Shiho Isono came up with a steal on the following play and connected on a fast break layup to give SUU a 5-0 lead.
Tarleton State fired off a 13-2 run to jump in front 13-7 midway through the quarter. Southern Utah responded, closing the period with a 13-6 stretch to take a 20-19 advantage at the end of the first. The two squads matched each other basket for basket as the score was tied at 26-26 with 6:10 on the clock. The Texans then used an 11-6 burst to go up 37-32, with Daylani Ballena and Uhrich leading the ‘Birds’ offensive effort with nine points each at the break.
After Tarleton State extended its lead to 64-50, Southern Utah scored eight of the next 10 points to get within eight, 66-58, with 2:10 remaining on the clock. However, the Texans were able to hold on earning a 69-63 victory.
Up Next:
Southern Utah returns to the America First Event Center on Thursday, Mar. 7 for a matchup against Stephen F. Austin in Cedar City. The game is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. MT.
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