UVSC survives SUU's surge

OREM — Although Southern Utah couldn't have gotten off to a worse start offensively Friday if it had tried, the T-Birds resiliently fought back to give host Utah Valley State a late second-half scare before finally falling 64-55 in men's basketball.

The Wolverines (7-5) built a 22-9 lead thanks in no small part to the fact that SUU (8-5) shot 2-for-14 from the field in the first 15 minutes.

"There for the first half we did do a good job defensively," UVSC coach Dick Hunsaker said. "But I'm not going to sit here and say that was all (because of) our tremendous defense. A lot of times your defense certainly contributes to that, but maybe there's a team that didn't quite have their edge or their energy to start a ballgame."

Even though the Wolverines led 32-17 at halftime and enjoyed a double-digit lead for most of the second half, Southern Utah fought back and scored eight straight points to cut its deficit to 52-47 with 5:54 left.

UVSC senior forward David Heck, however, quelled the rally and effectively sapped SUU of its momentum when he made a 3-pointer with 3:57 to go. The T-Birds didn't score again until just over a minute remained in the game and never posed a serious threat the rest of the way.

"Once they were coming on with that run, we knew we either had to match them with their points or get a couple of stops," Heck said. "They cut it to within five, and then I hit a 3-pointer. After that run, we had to just weather the storm and level it back out."

Speedy senior guard Steve Barnes led Southern Utah with 16 points and was a catalyst for the late 8-0 run that brought the T-Birds within striking distance. SUU's 7-foot-2 center, Brad Kanis, came off the bench to collect 12 rebounds and block 10 shots.

"I didn't come in here with any visions of grandeur," Southern Utah coach Bill Evans said. "I knew it was going to be tough. We weren't aggressive enough (in the first half); we didn't attack (and) we were on our heels. Instead of us being the aggressor, they had us on our heels and they were up in us.

"The second half we played a little bit better, but we weren't great in the second half (either)."

Heck scored 20 points to lead UVSC, which won despite an 0-for-7 shooting night from leading scorer Ryan Toolson. Richard Troyer added 11 points for the Wolverines, including three 3-pointers.