SUU campus briefs

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Southern Utah University forward Davis Baker has earned honorable mention All-Summit League honors, the league announced today.

Baker, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound senior forward from Cota de Caza, Calif., finished the regular season ranked fourth in the conference in scoring at 17.1 points per game, and 10th in rebounding with 5.8 boards per game when only conference games are considered. He was also seventh in the league in free throw percentage (.833), 15th in field goal percentage (.457), third in defensive rebounds (5.1 per game) and fourth in minutes played (36.4 per game).

Baker finished his career as the sixth-leading scorer in SUU history, with 1,205 career points. He had three games of 30 or more this season, including a pair of 34-point efforts as well as a 31-point, 12-rebound performance in his finale against Centenary last Saturday night.

When all games are considered, he led the Thunderbirds in scoring, rebounding, free throw percentage, defensive rebounds and minutes played, and was second in steals, 3-point shots attempted and 3-pointers made.

Baker was a second-team selection last season.

Oakland center Keith Benson was named the league's Player of the Year, while Oral Roberts forward Michael Craion was Newcomer of the Year. IUPUI swingman John Avery was named sixth man of the year while Western Illinois guard Ceola Clark was named Defensive Player of the Year. Oakland's Greg Kampe was named Coach of the Year after guiding the Grizzlies to a league-record 17 conference wins and the regular-season league title.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Southern Utah will have its eye on an NCAA Tournament berth when the Thunderbirds begin the Summit League Women's Basketball Championship tournament this weekend.

SUU is slated to play Oral Roberts University in the first round.

"This is another one of those seasons within the season," head coach JR Payne said. "Everybody starts in the tournament 0-0 and anything can happen. Oral Roberts is a very good team and put a hurting on us both games this year, but we know what we need to do to beat them and plan to leave it all out on the court."

Southern Utah dropped both games to the Golden Eagles this season, as ORU captured victories of 109-62 in Tulsa, Okla., and a 94-70 victory on Monday night in Cedar City. The secret to the Eagles' success lied in their 3-point shooting, as the team connected on 35-of-65 from long range to the tune of 53 percent.