State basketball roundup: T-Birds shot down in Illinois; UVU men, women fall in South Dakota

MACOMB, Ill. — Matt Lander scored 20 points as Western Illinois won its third in a row, defeating Southern Utah 63-49 on Thursday night.

Tommie Tyler added 12 points and Ceola Clark 10 for the Leathernecks (12-14, 5-10 Summit League), who won just their second league game at home.

Dallin Bachynski went 7-for-10 and scored 20 points to lead the Thunderbirds (6-20, 2-13), who dropped their fifth in a row. Davis Baker grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Southern Utah, which fell to 0-8 in league road games, started both halves with long droughts. The Thunderbirds trailed 7-0 before Bachynski converted a three-point play after 7:59 had elapsed in the first half.

The Leathernecks also scored the first seven points of the second half and held Southern Utah scoreless for 4:22 until Ryan Brimley's jumper cut it to 42-25.

Western Illinois' lead peaked at 51-27 on Tyler's 3-pointer with 11:56 left

SOUTH DAKOTA 59, UTAH VALLEY 55: At Vermillion, S.D., the Wolverines battled toe-to-toe with Great West Conference leader South Dakota on Thursday night, but the Coyotes went on a 9-2 run midway through the second half to build a nine-point lead before holding off Utah Valley.

Utah Valley got within four points at 52-48 of the league-leading Coyotes on a 3-pointer by Jordan Swarbrick with 1:58 left and again at 54-50 on a layup by Shawn Deadwiler with less than a minute remaining.

After USD missed a pair of foul shots, UVU's Jourdain Scoubes knocked down a jumper to cut the lead to three with 19.1 seconds left, and Swarbrick drilled a 3-pointer with 10.2 remaining to trim the lead to two.

"I liked our energy and I thought there was consistency from the 10 guys that came on this trip. Everyone played with a lot of fight and vinegar," UVU head coach Dick Hunsaker said. "As our season winds down, I am encouraged."

With the loss, the Wolverines fall to 11-14 overall and 4-5 in league play, while the Coyotes improve to 15-9 overall and 6-1 in conference play.

Kevin Woods led the Wolverines with a season-high 11 points, while Eric Dearden had nine and Tyray Petty and Justin Baker had eight each.

USD's Roman Gentry led all scorers with 24 points.

The Wolverines are back in action Saturday night when they meet North Dakota at 2 p.m. (MT) in Grand Forks, N.D.