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Show The Thwufcrbird Monday February 25, 1985 Page 13 Birds win two more SUSC to host playoff game tomorrow night by Stewart Smith Were going to pay these guys back. They beat us the first time, a calm Russell Otis said Saturday night. Nobody beats us twice, guard Derrick Johnson added. The prophetic words of the two Thunderbird basketball players came to pass in the form of SUSCs victory over the Fort Lewis Raiders in War Memorial Fieldhouse. The win avenged an earlier loss to the Raiders and assured the of a first round playoff game against the Adams State Indians Tuesday night at home. SUSC destroyed the Indians 104-7in a contest played in Cedar City last week. Theyre a very capable team. We wont blow them out by 30 points again, Coach Bob Schermerhorn said of tomorrow nights playoff battle. A deceptive 9 score does little to reveal the intensity and emotion behind the Thunderbird win over Fort Lewis. That was a very physical basketball game. I thought our kids played tough. When things werent going well they sucked it up, Schermerhorn said. SUSC raced to an early 17-- lead but moments later lost that lead as the Raiders fought with a pressing defense and gained a 76-5- 9 9 76-5- 6 21-1- 8 lead. The two teams the closing minutes of the first half with the Thunderbirds leading 8 at halftime. The Birds owed the lead largely to the defensive efforts on Fort Lewis Brice Searles, who leads the RMAC in scoring with an average 25 point from the field per game performance. At the half Searles was and scoreless. Trent Scarlett and Russell Otis did a great job on Searles, Schermerhorn said. The Raiders fought their way back into the game the second half but each time the Thunderbirds repelled the onslaught. They didnt quit. I dont think it was our guys, youve got to give them credit, Schermerhorn said of the Raider comebacks. The final five minutes of the contest proved fatal to Raider victory aspirations as SUSC scored heavily from the field and from the free throw line. Otis scored 24 points in the contest while Johnson added 21. Senior John Pierce scored 16 points and Scarlett added eight points while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out nine assists. see-saw- 33-2- 0-- 9 T rent Scarlett finds an alley and a layup as he drives past Fort Leiois defenders in ' Thunderbird win. Saturdays 76-5- 9 SUSC ladies lose pair at home by Joe Cartwright basketball team took The SUSC Lady two on the chin last week, losing a pair of games at home. Thursday the Lady Birds lost to and conference leader Adams State Saturday to the Fort Lewis Raiders Adams State showed why theyre the leader in the Rocky Mouintain Athletic Conference. Using an impenetrable zone defense and a power offense, the Indians steadily inched away from the in the second half for the 20 point victory. We ran cut of gas, said SUSC Coach Boyd Adams following the first loss. We just didnt play that well tonight. Adams attributed the poor performance to the general health of the team. (Annette) Turleys sick, (Lisa) Ballantynes sick, and (Denise) Muir, (Leslie) Magnuson and (Cherry) Roper all arent feeling well, Adams said, Were in bad shape. The ailing Birds did manage to keep close and took a 4 lead at the beginning of the second half with the sharp outside shooting of Muir and Darla Flunt. Fatigue finally took its toll on the Birds and the Indians outscored them 15-- 4 after their brief one point lead. Adams State took control of the game from the inside with 6 3 Dominique Skeehan doing the bulk of the scoring on one side of the court while 75-5- 70-5- 25-3- Denise Muir goes through for a one handed layup against the Fort Lewis Raiders. racking up five blocked shots on the other end. Shes some kind of player, Adams said Theyre by far the best team in the conference. After only a day of rest the Lady Birds matched up with the Fort Lewis Raiders, in second place behind Adams State in the RMAC. The game appeared to be a replay of the Adams lost the lead State contest, only the earlier and never quite recovered. We just didnt have any drive. The teams just been too sick, Adams said. The Lady Birds kept the game in reach until the end with some rugged defense down the stretch and the fine scoring of Turley, who had a game high 18 points. Turley played her heart out tonight, said Adams. She played well on offense and defense. went into a Down by 16 points, the man to man defense with just over three minutes remaining in the game. The defense flustered the Raiders and forced them to call a time out to regroup. Yet this was too little, too late for the Birds as they w'ere finally brought down by the 1 1 point margin. Despite the consecutive losses, SUSC may still hold onto third place Thursday as the Birds go on the road for the first round of the RMAC tournament. I just hope we can recover in' time said Adams, who is for the tournament, uncertain of the opponent in the contest. |