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Show T. IRON COUNTY RECORD -CEDAR CITY, UTAH -HI Til Q Thursday, February 28, 1980 end Season with Loss to Mesa What originally looked like a banner year for Southern Utah State College has turned out to be one of those seasons that most coaches like to forget. The Thunderbird basketball team lost a 94-69 decision to Mesa at Grand Junction Monday to close the year with a record of 10 wins and 16 defeats. It was only the second losing season for Coach Stan Jack in nine years at SUSC. 1979-80 is the first season in the last eight years that the Thunderbirds '.- have not been one of the top four teams in NAIA District Seven (Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah). SUSC had won 20 or more games for three consecutive seasons starting 1979-80. In Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action, the T-Birds won eight games and lost 10; several RMAC teams "repaid" the 'Birds for SUSC's semi-domination of the league over the past five years. Only one member of this year's squad is a senior, guard Bob Stringham. The entire starting five are eligible for competition next year. The year's top scorer was 6-8 forward Dave Knudsen; he averaged 14.6 points. Leading rebounder was 6-6 forward Russ Hafen with an average of 8.2 takedowns per contest. Brett Bell, 6-8 center, averaged 11.9 points and 6.8' rebounds. Scott Spurrier, 6-5 freshman guard, also averaged double figure scoring with 10.1 points per game. Until this week's loss, the Thunderbirds . thought they had an outside chance for this year's eight-team NAIA playoffs. |