CEDAR CITY, Utah — Tarleton State Men's Basketball snapped back into its winning ways with a tightly-fought 62-59 victory over Southern Utah on Saturday night at the America First Events Center.
 
The Texans (12-12 overall, 3-8 WAC) evened the season series with Southern Utah (8-16, 4-7) avenging an earlier 106-105 overtime loss on Jan. 15. It marked the third time this season that the Purple and White trailed at half and came back to win.
 
"I'm really proud of our guys," said acting head coach Glynn Cyprien postgame. "I thought they fought to the last possession. It was a team effort tonight. We've stressed to our guys the importance of staying together and playing together, and I thought they accomplished that tonight."
 
Andy Sigiscar and Cam McDowell paced the team with 14 apiece. DJ Dormu followed up right behind with 13 points. Sigiscar made six of his 10 shots and both of his free throws. The redshirt-freshman led the team grabbing three steals and notching two blocks. McDowell made a pair of triples from deep and added three boards. Dormu made six of his 13 shots from the floor and his only three-point attempt. Ocypher Owens led the team with five rebounds.
 
Acting head coach Glynn Cyprien filled in for head coach Billy Gillispie for the eighth total game and the seventh consecutive last night against Utah Valley. The Texans were also without Dior Johnson, Leroy Kelly IV and Chris Mpaka due to injury.
 
In a first half that saw five ties and four lead changes, it was back-and-forth early on. The Thunderbirds led 8-6 and used a 5-0 run to expand their lead to the largest of the half, 13-6, with 14:34 to go. The Texans responded quickly immediately running off a 10-0 run to take their largest lead of the half, 16-13. McDowell started the run with a triple followed by a Kade Douglas jumper. Dormu kept the run going with his first triple of the game followed by a jumper for a mini 5-0 run of his own to cap the Texans 10-point burst.
 
Sigiscar found his rhythm knocking down a pair in the paint for four consecutive Texan points. Sigiscar added another bucket followed by Dormu to put the Texans ahead by two, 28-26, with four minutes to go. But the Thunderbirds quickly responded with an 8-0 run of their own. Tarleton State closed the half on a 5-0 run with a triple from McDowell and a pair of made free throws.
 
McDowell led the Texans with 12 in the first half, followed up by Sigiscar with 10. The Texans shot 50.0 percent from the floor and made three of their five attempts from deep. The Texans held SUU to shoot 43.8 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
 
The Texans started the second half hot on a 6-0 run. Back-to-back buckets in the paint from Sigiscar and Jordan Mizell started the run. After a defensive rebound, Sigiscar found McDowell for a fast break layup to put the Texans ahead by five in the early minutes of the second half. The Thunderbirds quickly cut back into the Texan lead, tying it at 41 and then taking a 42-41 lead on a pair of made free throws just three minutes later.
 
A mini 5-0 run via Douglas courtesy of a jumper and triple put the Texans back ahead by four. But an SUU mini run capped with a triple flipped the score back in favor of the home team, 46-45. The Thunderbirds tied the game back up for the final time at 49 with 9:32 to play. The Texans ran seven straight to take their largest lead of the night, 56-49, with just under six minutes to play.
 
In the final minutes, the Thunderbirds were never able to tie or take the lead, but they threatened. The Texan lead grew to six with 2:20 to play after a running floater from Dormu fell through the net. Neither team scored over the next 1:40, until SUU knocked down a triple to cut the SUU deficit in half. The Thunderbirds called timeout and set up their inbound trap, forcing a Texan turnover on the SUU offensive end. Southern Utah took four three pointers missing each with Tarleton State grabbing a rebound and getting fouled with 6.9 ticks left on the clock. After a pair of Kaia Isaac made free throws to ice the game, the Texans secured the 62-59 victory.
 
The Texans ended the night shooting 44.6 percent from the floor, making 25 of their 56 shots. The Purple and White made four triples at a 36.4 percent rate. Southern Utah shot 36.1 percent from the floor and 34.8 percent from beyond the arc. The Thunderbirds won the rebounding battle, 39-34. The Texans won the turnover battle forcing 19 and committing 16. The Texans notched 11 steals, their 15^th time this season recording at least 10 in a single game.
 
Tarleton State will have their second off game day of the WAC slate without a game next Thursday. It will give the Texans six days before their next contest, a Valentine's Day clash at Abilene Christian inside the Moody Coliseum at 3 p.m. on FebCEDAR CITY, Utah — Tarleton State Men's Basketball snapped back into its winning ways with a tightly-fought 62-59 victory over Southern Utah on Saturday night at the America First Events Center.
 
The Texans (12-12 overall, 3-8 WAC) evened the season series with Southern Utah (8-16, 4-7) avenging an earlier 106-105 overtime loss on Jan. 15. It marked the third time this season that the Purple and White trailed at half and came back to win.CEDAR CITY, Utah — Tarleton State Men's Basketball snapped back into its winning ways with a tightly-fought 62-59 victory over Southern Utah on Saturday night at the America First Events Center.
 
The Texans (12-12 overall, 3-8 WAC) evened the season series with Southern Utah (8-16, 4-7) avenging an earlier 106-105 overtime loss on Jan. 15. It marked the third time this season that the Purple and White trailed at half and came back to win.