CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah Thunderbirds took on the Tarleton Texans at home in the America First Events Center on Thursday.

The Thunderbirds last game was a narrow 7-point loss to same-state foe Utah Tech. The Texans last game was a 5-point win against UT Arlington on the road.

Prior to the loss against Utah Tech, the Thunderbirds had won 12 of their last 15 games.

First Half

Tarleton jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead.

Jason Spurgin opened up the scoring for Southern Utah with a dunk.

Harrison just threw a DIME to Spurgin 🤑#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/ry53xqbSNb

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 10, 2023

The Thunderbirds scored 6-straight points to take their first lead of the night.

.@little_toof hits this 👌 from the parking lot 🚘

Harrison puts SUU 🆙 8️⃣-5️⃣ early on‼️#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/cDxzWyDrmQ

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 10, 2023

The Texans answered with a jumpshot on two-straight possessions to take a 10-8 lead before the first timeout break.

Turnovers killed the Thunderbirds early on. They had 3 in the first 10 minutes of the game. Tarleton had 0.

Don’t let him fool you, Shakur Daniel can bury it from outside too! 🤫 pic.twitter.com/o91EdtItA2

— Tarleton Men’s Basketball (@TarletonMBB) February 10, 2023

Drake Allen was the leading scorer for SUU in the first half.

Keep feeding the hot hand @drakeaallen13🤚🔥#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/eZINlOtTRi

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 10, 2023

Allen got a nasty poster and-one just moments after hitting back-to-back threes.

DRAKE ALLEN 🤯🤯🤯

🔨 + 1️⃣#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/xCPXYMcsge

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 10, 2023

The teams traded baskets but the Texans held onto their multi-possession lead.

Tarleton State led at half, 31-25.

Second half coming 🆙#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/AxQYah9BSf

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 10, 2023

Second Half

It was slow moving out of the halftime break. Neither team scored in the first two minutes of the second half.

SUU’s Maizen Fausett broke the second-half seal with an and-one layup in transition.

Maizen muscles it in 💪

And 1️⃣#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/iyK11S2Vpq

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 10, 2023

Every time the Thunderbirds went on a run, Tarleton answered with one of their own.

Harrison takes it all the way to the house 🏠#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/u3WVWN7fXU

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 10, 2023

With 13 minutes left in the game, the Texans took their first double-digit lead.

Southern Utah answered with a run over the following minutes. They closed the lead all the way down to 2 in two minutes.

Drake got ⬆️ on this one 👀

He leads us with 1️⃣1️⃣ points so far 👊#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/OVhoSe5eiF

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 10, 2023

No matter how much the Thunderbirds scored, they struggled to get stops. Any momentum they gained was followed by a Tarleton response.

Despite the defensive struggles, SUU tied the game at 52 with 6 minutes left.

.@DeeBarnes22 ties the game at 5️⃣2️⃣-5️⃣2️⃣ 👀🍿#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/QSZNrKPf42

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 10, 2023

The Texans came down and got an and-one on the following possession. Southern Utah answered with an and-one of their own the next time down.

Maizen letting his game do the talking 🗣🗣🗣

1️⃣2️⃣ points for him so far tonight‼️#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/NWDVYiK667

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 10, 2023

The Thunderbirds took their first lead since the first half, 8-5, with 5 minutes left. Tarleton hit a three to take the lead right back.

SUU took a 2-point lead after two-straight trips to the free throw line, 60-58.

Dee Barnes and Cameron Healy hit back-to-back threes to extend the lead to eight with 2 minutes remaining.

Dee for Three 🎯🎯🎯

SUU leads 6️⃣3️⃣-5️⃣8️⃣ 👏#TBirdNation pic.twitter.com/Z19lkAf6Ky

— SUU Men’s Basketball (@SUUBasketball) February 10, 2023

Southern Utah’s late run results in a home win, 72-62.

Chandler Holt is a Digital Sports Producer for KSLSports.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter at @ChandlerHoltKSL.