SALT LAKE CITY – The Southern Utah men’s basketball team held off the Utah Valley Wolverines for a big in-state victory and their sixth win of the season.

The Thunderbirds hosted the Wolverines on Wednesday, December 8.

SUU beat UVU, 60-56.

THUNDERBIRDS WIN ‼️ ⚡️#StormTheSky pic.twitter.com/9Nj9sVFF1x

— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) December 9, 2021

The T-Birds and Wolverines battled throughout the tight contest. After the first 20 minutes of action, Southern Utah took a five-point lead into the locker room at halftime.

Midway through the second half, SUU and UVU were knotted at 50-50 following a Jaden McClanahan layup with 9:52 left.

Both teams went scoreless over the next few minutes until Southern Utah’s John Knight III scored with 6:08 to go.

Knight III’s bucket resulted in the only points during a five-minute stretch.

Southern Utah outscored Utah Valley 10-6 over the final 10 minutes of the game to hold on for a four-point win.

ANOTHER ONE‼️ ⚡️@spurgin_jason pic.twitter.com/xpBTveB1BO

— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) December 9, 2021

SUU shot 42.6 percent from the field, including 26.3 percent from beyond the arc. Knight III led the T-Birds with 16 points.

First on the board 👏@__Jgotti3 pic.twitter.com/MducYGPTOA

— SUU Men's Basketball (@SUUBasketball) December 9, 2021

Utah Valley finished the game shooting 35.0 percent overall and 23.8 percent from three. Fardaws Aimaq led UVU with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

With the result, the Thunderbirds improved their record to 6-3 this season and the Wolverines fell to 7-2.

Utah Valley’s next game is on the road against Wyoming on Saturday, December 11 at 8 p.m. (MDT).

Southern Utah’s next game is at home against St. Katherine on Saturday, December 11 at 1 p.m. (MDT) on ESPN+.

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