Southern Utah edges Idaho State

CEDAR CITY — Tim Gainey hit one of two free throws with 17 seconds remaining in overtime to break a 70-70 tie, then Southern Utah put on the defensive clamps to pull off a 71-70 extra-session win over Idaho State Saturday night in the Centrum.

SUU moved to 2-1 with the win while ISU dropped to 1-2 on the season.

Southern Utah never trailed in the first half but ISU stayed close and made the second period a back-and-forth affair after taking its first lead, 36-34 on a Jesse Smith jumper with 15:17 to play. ISU built its lead as high as four, and led 50-46 at the 7:22 mark before Southern Utah went on a 13-3 run for a 59-53 advantage on two free throws by DeAngelo Newsom with 3:05 to play. SUU held on to the six point advantage, but in the final minute the Bengals outscored the T-Birds 7-1, tying the game on a Doug D'Amore layup with nine seconds to play, 63-63. SUU pushed the ball up quickly but Gainey's 3-point attempt from the top of the key bounced off the rim, sending the game into the extra session. David Schroeder scored five of his game-high 29 points in the overtime period, but his last shot was a missed free throw which would have given ISU a 71-68 edge with 1:04 to play. Instead he missed the shot and Newsom grabbed the rebound. Gainey hit a jumper from the left wing with his foot on the 3-point line to tie it at 70-70, then Steve Barnes gave the Thunderbirds the chance for the win by stealing Jeff Gardner's pass and getting it ahead to Gainey, who was fouled. Gainey converted just one of the free throws, but it turned out to be enough as Lewis drove the lane as time was running out and Nate Janes tied him up as the clock hit zero. "That was a more exciting finish than guys like me like to see," SUU Coach Bill Evans said. "Any time you go into overtime like we did you look back and say we should have taken care of business in regulation, but if you've got to go to OT you want it to be at home. things worked out for us. Tim hit some big shots and DeAngelo got some big rebounds and that steal of Steve's at the end of overtime was huge. We got the win and in the end that's all that matters."

Gainey finished with 19 points for the Thunderbirds, while Jason Baker had 18, 15 in the first half. Newsom scored 15 and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for the Thunderbirds, who had just 10 turnovers one game after 23 give-aways at Sacramento State last Monday.