MEN'S BASKETBALL: Southern Utah's young men's basketball team showed flashes of what it hopes to be Tuesday night, but the Thunderbirds still came up short against a veteran Mesa State team, as the Mavericks held off a late SUU rally for a 67-64 exhibition win.

Mesa's all-RMAC senior guard Jase Herl led all scorers with 19 points, including a layup and two free throws for the Mavericks' final points to hold off the Thunderbirds.

Southern Utah had cut an 11-point deficit to 63-60 on a Jake Nielson 3-pointer with 2:53 to play, but Herl's layup pushed the Mavericks' advantage to 65-60. Then after Nielson hit two free throws, Herl answered with two of his own to move the margin back to five.

Southern Utah had opportunities to cut into the lead but missed five shots in the final 1:36 until Nielson hit a layup with two seconds to play.

"We're a young team and we showed it tonight," SUU coach Roger Reid said. "We're going to be finding out who can play and what matchups work for us for a while, with so many young players.

"Give Mesa State a lot of credit though," Reid added. "They hustled, got rebounds, moved the ball and out-played us. They're a very well-coached basketball team."

Mesa State, which has seven seniors and no true freshmen on its roster, shot just 44.9 percent from the field (22-of-49) but hit 17-of-20 free throws (.850), while the Thunderbirds hit 25-of-55 shots (.455) but just 12-of-21 free throws. SUU also out-rebounded MSC 36-30.

Matt Massey recorded a double-double in his first game back after a year-long layoff (he transferred to SUU from Nova Southeastern last year), scoring 16 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Senior guard Davis Baker added 16 points, while Nielson had 13 points and led the team with five steals and four assists.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL: The Thunderbirds will wrap up their home slate this week when they host Oral Roberts and Centenary College in the final home matches for SUU this year, as the T-Birds will close out the 2009 regular season on the road next weekend.

"Oral Roberts is a good team and they play very smart," head coach Debby Baker said of Thursday night's opponent. "We struggled with digs on the road when we face them earlier this year, but we've improved since then.

"I'm excited to play both of these teams at home," she continued. "Even though Centenary hasn't won a game in conference, they been able to play teams very close and they are not a team to overlook."

Southern Utah will enter the week with a 6-18 record and will look to snap a four-game losing streak. SUU's Analaine Pelaez is the key to the Thunderbirds' attack as the freshman is leading the league in kills and kills per set this year. Teammate Kylie Yardley is also in the top ten of the conference, ranking No. 9 in service aces per set.

Jazmine Ma'afala is second on the team with 256 kills this year while Brittney Clark leads the 818 assists. Courtney Lelepali leads the team in two categories with 24 service aces this season and 346 digs.

Saturday night's contest will also feature the first volleyball letter-winner reunion, with a light luncheon planned in the women's volleyball locker room at noon. All former SUU volleyball players are encouraged to attend. For more information on the reunion, contact Kit Janes at 435-865-8252. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.