CEDAR CITY — The Southern Utah Thunderbirds men’s basketball team snapped a two-game losing streak with a big win over Middle Tennessee State by a score of 69-63 on Friday.
Iron County School District kids attended the Southern Utah versus Middle Tennessee men’s basketball game for free in Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 22, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, Cedar City / St. George News
The Thunderbirds were down as many as 11 early in the first half, but continued to battle and ultimately came away with a six-point victory.
“It is just a testament to this team’s mentality, coming off two hard losses and starting the game slow, we still battled back and came out with a big win at home,” Thunderbird head coach Rob Jeter said.
The T-Birds took their largest lead of the game with 1:33 left to play by a score of 66-59, but a quick 4-0 run by the Blue Raiders and it seemed that more of the same struggles were coming for SUU. A big three-point shot by Zion Young with just :23 seconds left pushed the Thunderbird lead back to 6 and left the visiting team out of reach.
SUU struggled outside of the paint all night, shooting just 26% from three-point range. The Thunderbirds shot 16 more free throws than the Blue Raiders and made 10 more.
During the turnover battle, SUU was ahead 16-3, and scored 21 points off of all turnovers. And increased intensity on defense, particularly in the second half, led to MTSU only scoring 26 points in the second half and a much-needed victory for the Thunderbirds.
The Southern Utah Thunderbirds men’s basketball team snapped a two-game losing streak with a big win over Middle Tennessee State by a score of 69-63, in Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 22, 2023 | Photo by SUU Athletics, St. George News
SUU was led in scoring by Parsa Fallah who was 8-14 from the field and snagged a team-high nine rebounds. Young added 16 points of his own, Braden Housley once again had a do-it-all performance, scoring 11 points including 3-6 from three, pulling down four rebounds, dishing three assists, snatching three steals and tacked on two blocks.
True freshman Brock Felder was key in his 16 minutes, with two points, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal from the former Parowan High School star.
“A really good team performance,” Jeter said. “We held them to 26 points in the second half which is where we have struggled and I am proud of our guys for bouncing back and getting a win before the Christmas break.”
Up Next:
The SUU Thunderbirds have one final preseason game against Antelope Valley on Dec 30 at 6:10 p.m. in the America First Event Center in Cedar City.
Written by Parker Haynie, Southern Utah University Athletic Communications
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