By: Keller Sherman
Featured Image Courtesy of University of Texas-Arlington Athletics
ARLINGTON, Texas — With a road game at Sam Houston lurking in the shadows on Saturday, the job on Thursday night was clear. Southern Utah needed to take care of business against UT-Arlington and they did just that. The Mavericks coming off a major road win at Stephen F Austin could not continue that momentum against the Thunderbirds. Tevian Jones led all Thunderbirds in scoring yet again as SUU left the College Park Center with an 86-76 victory. Jones also joined the 1400-point club in career scoring while reaching the 1300-point mark for points scored in his time at SUU.
Finally… A Complete Road Effort
SUU had struggled on the road up until Thursday night. The Thunderbirds improved to 4-4 on the road in WAC play with Thursday’s win and it was also their first conference road win by double digits. Drake Allen and Maizen Fausett also scored double figures, but the story of the night came from off the bench. Dee Barnes came off the bench for 20 points falling one point shy of Jones’ 21-point mark for the high scorer of the night. His effort played a big role in arguably SUU’s best road performance of the season.
WAC Race Heating Up
The Thunderbirds currently sit in a tie for 2nd place in the WAC with Sam Houston. That means Saturday’s showdown with the Bearkats will be for 2nd place in the WAC. SUU defeated Sam Houston 86-74 in Cedar City back on January 12th. Utah Valley lost some ground in the race for the WAC regular season on Thursday night. The Wolverines took a 58-77 loss at Tarleton on Thursday night to drop to 12-3 in the WAC with three games left. UVU defeated Sam Houston 80-64 to open WAC play in Orem and split their two games with SUU. The Thunderbirds and Bearkats currently sit one game behind the Wolverines for 1st place in the WAC.