Cedar City, Utah – Despite a strong second half by the Thunderbirds, in which they scored 51 points, the Southern Utah University men’s basketball team dug themselves an early hole that they were unable to climb out of, falling to the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks 88-72.
North Dakota came out hot, shooting six for six en route to a 13-0 run, making the game 18-8.
With six minutes remaining in the first half, UND commanded a 28-17 lead when the Fighting Hawks’ leading scorer, Geno Crandall, was called for his second foul and sent to the bench. With Crandall on the bench, the Thunderbirds started to show life again. Consecutive baskets in the paint by Juwan Major and Christian Thompson put the Thunderbirds back within four, before North Dakota’s Conner Avants rolled off a screen for a slam dunk.
Southern Utah continued to struggle keeping up with North Dakota, ending the half down by 22.
The Thunderbirds came out swinging in the second half, however. Juwan Major scored the first points of the half, throwing down a thunderous dunk that got the entire crowd at Centrum Arena on their feet. That dunk sparked a short Southern Utah run before North Dakota head coach Brian Johnson called a timeout to regroup.
At the 12:35 mark, the Thunderbirds were playing with renewed confidence and cut UND’s lead in half, trailing 52-41.
Over the next six minutes, the game was a back-and-forth affair with neither team establishing dominance. With six minutes left in the game, Travon Langston hit a three pointer to bring the Thunderbirds back within ten points.
With a little over two and a half minutes remaining in the game, Southern Utah’s defensive stalwart John Marshall was called for his fifth and eliminating foul. Marshall finished with five steals.
The Thunderbirds seemingly gave into frustration at that point, committing fouls and suffering defensive lapses as UND pushed the lead back to 20.
Trey Kennedy led the Thunderbirds with 17 points and three rebounds. Travon Langston had 15 points to go with four rebounds and a pair of assists. North Dakota were led by Quinton Hooker who scored 28 points and shot a perfect 11-11 from the foul line.
Southern Utah head coach, Nick Robinson, saw a lot of positives in the second half for his team to build on.
“Offensively in the second half we showed a lot of fight, and got the game within ten, which was great to see,” said Robinson. “We just weren’t able to get it quite to single digits, but we’ll continue to move forward.”
Southern Utah will be on the road next week, playing at Idaho State on Thursday, January 28. The Thunderbirds then face Weber State on Saturday, January 30.
Hayden Coombs 