Nov. 29, 2006

Box Score

Cedar City, UT - The Utah Valley State men's basketball team lost a tough 68-60 in-state game to Southern Utah on Wednesday in front of a crowd of 2,329 at the Centrum. The loss drops the Wolverines to 4-2 while SUU upped its record to 5-2.

David Heck led the Wolverines with a season high 24 points while Matt Peterson added 13. For the game the Wolverines shot 50 percent from the field but they turned the ball over 17 times to SUU's eight.

"Southern Utah was the aggressor, the better team and they outplayed us tonight," Utah Valley State coach Dick Hunsaker said. "That is a credit to their stiff defense. I give all the credit to SUU and coach Evans preparation."

The Wolverines out rebounded SUU 29-27, led by Heck's six.

Southern Utah was led by Nurudeen Adepoju's 17 points, Orlando Griego's 13 and Steve Barnes 12. As a team the T-Birds shot 44 percent.

Utah Valley State trailed 33-26 at halftime and scored the first five points of the second half to come with in two at 33-31 following a Heck 3-pointer and a Jordan Brady jumper.

After the quick baskets to open the half, Utah Valley went scoreless over the next six minutes and fell behind 46-31 with 11:38 left. The Wolverines showed some fight over the next seven minutes to go on a 21-7 run to come with in one point at 53-53 following a Josh Olsen 3-pointer with 4:38 remaining in the game.

Heck sparked the run with 12 points and ended the scoring drought when he converted on a 3-point play with 11:26 left on the clock.

But once Utah Valley made its run Southern Utah hit its free throws down the stretch to seal the win. For the game SUU hit 14 of 18 foul shots while Utah Valley connected on 11 of 15.

Utah Valley opened the game leading 5-4, four minutes in after a basket by Peterson. The T-Birds jumped out to a 16-9 lead following a Barnes 3-pointer with 11:37 left until halftime. The T-Birds later extended its lead to 22-10 a little over a minute later.

Utah Valley then scored six straight points to cut its deficit to 22-16 after a basket by Peterson. The Wolverines got no closer than five points the rest of half.

The Wolverines return to action on Saturday at 8 p.m. when they play at Portland State.