Southern Utah Slows Oakland, 82-66

Dec. 2, 2008

CEDAR CITY, Utah - Freshman Drew Maynard scored 17 points, junior Johnathon Jones added 16 and freshman Blake Cushingberry scored a career-high 14 points off the bench, but Southern Utah (2-4, 1-0) got a career-high 35 points from Tyler Quinney to defeat Oakland University (3-5, 0-1), 82-66, on Tuesday night in Summit League men's basketball action at the Centrum Arena. The Thunderbirds shot 57 percent from the field (30-55) and 50 percent from behind the three-point line (6-12).

The T-Birds' Davis Baker added 22 points for SUU. Jones finished with a game-high six assists, while redshirt senior Dan Waterstradt led OU on the glass with seven boards. SUU's Quinney had nine rebounds to go with his 35 points, while fellow big man John Clifford scored 12 points and grabbed nine boards.

"We have to guard inside and get to their shooter," said Jones. "All the shots they hit were open shots, and we have to do a better job contesting shots."

The Golden Grizzlies found themselves down 15 points in the first half but used an 8-0 run over a two-minute span to creep within seven, 31-24, with 5:52 left until halftime. SUU got the score back up to 10 points on several occasions but Cushingberry knocked down a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key with four seconds left as the Grizzlies were within seven at the break, 42-35.

The second half began with a pair of turnovers by Oakland and the T-Birds seized control of the game with a 12-0 run over four minutes and extended that run to 15-2 and take a commanding 58-39 lead with just over 14 minutes left in the game.

After being down by 23 points, the Golden Grizzlies tried a counterpunch with six unanswered points to get as close as 13 points, with 3:27 remaining, but SUU converted a pair of free throws and two layups to stop any chance of an OU comeback as the Grizzlies dropped their league opener.

OU will continue Summit League action on Thursday as they travel to Kansas City, Mo., to face UMKC (3-5). The Kangaroos and Golden Grizzlies will do battle at 8:06 p.m. ET.

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