The Southern Utah basketball teams took the court on Saturday, with the men hosting Cal Baptist and the women facing the Lancers on the road.
The women’s basketball team emerged with a 64-63 win, while the men suffered a third straight defeat in a 76-60 loss.
Here are recaps of both games, beginning with the women’s road victory.
Women’s basketball
Traveling to Riverside, the Southern Utah women’s basketball team mounted a fourth-quarter comeback to stun Cal Baptist 64-63 on Saturday.
The T-birds opened the game with a solid first quarter, taking a 19-15 lead into the second period. It didn’t take long for the Lancers to answer, as they scored the first five points of the second quarter to take the lead, 20-19. The remainder of the frame was back-and-forth, but a 5-0 spurt at the end put CBU in front at halftime, 35-32.
The Lancers’ momentum carried over into the third quarter, as they outscored SUU 16-9 to take a 10-point lead (51-41) into the final quarter. With just 3:24 on the clock, Cal Baptist remainder ahead by 10 (62-52), seemingly headed towards a victory.
Instead, the T-birds mounted an epic comeback, using a 12-1 run over the final 2:37 to record the victory. Daylani Ballena capped the wild finish with the game-winning layup with three seconds to play.
WITH THREE SECONDS!!! DAYLA 🤯 GAME CHANGER!!!
📺: @espn pic.twitter.com/0EcIm28sNs
— SUU Women’s Basketball (@SUUWBasketball) January 25, 2025
Ballena led Southern Utah in the win, notching a game-high 20 points. Sydney Gandy added 14 points, while Lexi Bull added a double-double of 10 points and 16 rebounds.
With the victory, the T-birds move to 2-4 in WAC play, having won two of their last three conference games. Southern Utah is now 4-15 overall.
Up next
SUU returns to Cedar City to face UT Arlington on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 6:30 p.m.
The T-birds (4-15, 2-4 WAC) and Mavericks battle can be seen on ESPN+.
Men’s basketball
Facing Cal Baptist at home, the SUU men’s basketball team never led in a blowout defeat on Saturday night.
The T-birds kept it close early, trailing by seven (21-14) around 10 minutes into the game. CBU dominated the rest of the first half, however, using a 12-0 run to push its lead to 19 (33-14). The Lancers would lead by as many as 28 in the opening half, taking a commanding 46-20 lead into the halftime break.
SUU played better in the second half, outscoring Cal Baptist 40-30. The deficit was too much to overcome though, as the T-birds fell 76-60, losing for the third game in a row.
Jamir Simpson led the Thunderbirds with 17 points, while Lorenzo Abellar chipped in with 13.
The T-birds struggled to find their rhythm in the game, shooting just 32.7 percent from the field, including a mere 28.6 percent from three.
Up next
Southern Utah (9-11, 1-5 WAC) hits the road for a contest against UT Arlington on Thursday, Jan. 30.
The game will tip off at 6 p.m. MT and can be seen on ESPN+.
