MACOMB, Ill. — Troy Okeson hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with six seconds to play Saturday night, breaking a tie and lifting Western Illinois to a 51-48 victory over Southern Utah in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Okeson, a 35.5 percent shooter from long range, scored 12 points on senior night, all of them coming on 3-pointers.

"We didn't know he could shoot," Evans said tongue-in-cheek about Okeson. "He's really the only guy on their team who's a 3-point threat and I told them not to let him get loose, but he came off a screen and hit a big shot at the end. That last one really took the wind out of our sails."

Southern Utah had an opportunity to tie and send the game into overtime for the third time in its last four games, but Nurudeen Adepoju's 3-point attempt came up short.

Western Illinois held Southern Utah to 16 points in the second half en route to the Mid-Continent Conference win. Southern Utah hit just 7-of-22 shots in the second half and only 2-of-9 free throws after shooting 52.2 percent (12-of-23) in the first half.

"We shot the ball well in the first half, but it was a different story after halftime," Evans said. "We just haven't been playing well lately on the offensive end, we haven't shot well from the floor and we haven't been able to hit a free throw."

Southern Utah was led by Tate Sorensen and Swaney Cooper, who each finished with 10 points, while Jerryck Owens-Murrey scored 17 to lead WIU.

Western held SUU's leading scorer, Steve Barnes, to just three points and one assist, over 10 points below his scoring average and nearly five below his assists average.

"They did a good job on Steve tonight, denying him looks at the basket, but Steve has been struggling lately, he needs to step it up," Evans said. "He's tired, absolutely worn out, but we need him to make more of a contribution than he did tonight."

The Thunderbirds — who dropped to 6-8 (16-13 overall) — finished fifth in the Mid-Con and will take the fifth seed into the tournament, which begins next week in Tulsa, Okla.