Returning home from a long road trip, the Southern Utah University men’s basketball team soared to success over a non-NCAA opponent in Nobel University on Thursday, Nov. 22. SUU commanded the game with a final score of 103-68.
The T-Birds are now 2-5 on the season, with both wins coming at home. This win snapped a three-game losing streak.
Nobel, a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association, falls to 0-7 this season. This is their third straight game of allowing more than 90 points.
First half
Nobel began the game in foul trouble, allowing six points to SUU at the free-throw line.
However, Southern Utah got off to a slow start on offense, putting up only 12 points and trailing by a point at the under-12 media timeout.
After allowing a 6-2 run to Nobel, SUU surged with a 25-5 run and entered the locker room up 38-24.
Nobel was perfect from the line in the first half, going 5-5, but struggled offensively otherwise. They shot just 30% from the field and made one three on five attempts.
Second half
The Thunderbirds went on a dominant scoring streak in the second half. They began the period on an 11-3 run thanks to two technical fouls from Nobel, then went on an 11-2 run minutes later.
SUU kept pouring on the points as a 13-2 run capped off by a Kai Burdick slam forced Nobel to take a timeout. SUU held a huge lead at 77-41.
SUU’s lead didn’t drop below 30 for the remaining 11 minutes as they stayed in overdrive. Senior Dylan Jones hit three shots from beyond the arc in this half and ultimately led SUU in scoring with 15 points.
Brayden Johnson hit a three to surge Southern Utah to 100 points with two minutes left, and Lorenzo Abellar closed the game with an and-one for a 103-68 win.
Key stats
— SUU shot 50% from the field, 42% from three and 80.6% from the line.
—The T-Birds had 16 assists to Nobel’s five and won the turnover contest, giving the ball up 7 times and forcing a season-high 14 turnovers.
— Southern Utah scored 50 bench points, put up 44 points in the paint and won the rebound battle 38-28.
— 13 different T-Birds recorded a bucket.
Top T-Birds
— Isaiah Cottrell put up a team-high six rebounds and four blocks, 13 points, an assist and a steal.
— True freshman Elijah Duval recorded 14 points, two assists, a rebound, a block and a steal.
— Tanner Hayhurst was all over, recording 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.
— Jones led the scoring for SUU with 15 points, including three three-pointers. He also notched two steals.
Up next
Southern Utah will go on the road to face Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh on Friday, Nov. 28 at noon. The Colonials were the No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season.
Author: Kendall McGuire
Photographer: SUU Athletics
Editor: Payson Davis
