Box Score
RENO, Nev. (March 9, 2017) – The clock struck midnight for Southern Utah’s Cinderella story.
The 11th-seeded Thunderbirds, triple-overtime winners over Montana State on Tuesday, couldn’t rekindle the magic Thursday in a 90-70 loss to upstate rival Weber State in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball tournament at the Reno Events Center.
The third-seeded Wildcats (18-12) advanced to face second-seeded Eastern Washington in Friday’s semifinals at 8:05 p.m. PST. The Thunderbirds, the last-place team during the regular season, finished at 6-27.
Senior guard Jeremy Senglin drained five 3-pointers to lead Weber State with 24 points. Sophomore post Zach Braxton and junior wing Dusty Baker added 15 points apiece and freshman guard Jerrick Harding chipped in 14. The Wildcats shot over 60 percent from the field and made 11 of 19 3-pointers.
Junior guard Randy Onwuasor, coming off a record-setting 43-point performance against Montana State, led Southern Utah with 29 points. James McGee added 20 for the Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds did a good job of staying with the fresher Wildcats despite Weber State’s hot shooting to begin the game. The Wildcats made 17 of their first 21 shots, yet led just 44-38 at halftime.
The Thunderbirds were still within six, 57-51, with 12:33 to play after a layup by Will Joyce. Senglin answered with a 3-pointer and a three-point play as the lead reached double digits at 63-53 with 9:10 remaining.
Onwuasor followed up his own miss to cut the gap to 63-55, but that was as close as the Thunderbirds got the rest of the way.
Senglin gave the Wildcats a 71-55 edge with a pair of free throws with 7:02 to play, then picked up his fourth foul and left the game. Weber coach Randy Rahe was able to rest his star guard for the remainder of the game as the lead continued to grow.
Weber State owned an 18-2 edge in fast-break points, shot 58 percent from 3-point range and 62 percent overall.