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Show i - . . r..7w'""" """""" " " """ Km JK W 1 i if (Is ' f . (jj? Jr l "' CHS center Kevin Garrett maneuvers inside between two Dixie defenders, as senior forward Lee Wood (42) prepares to help. The Flyers used a fourth-quarter burst to axe the Reds by 11. T-Birds hike over Mountaineers By LEE WARNICK Record Editor "Chances are good next week's Region 7 NAIA basketball playoffs will not have an entry from Cedar City in them. SUSC's players knew that when they took on Western State Tuesday night, and it looked like they had something to prove to Region officials, as they bombed the Mountaineers 80-63. Chances are also good that at least two of the eight teams entering the championships will have records lower than SU's possible 14-11 (should the T-Birds T-Birds down Southern Colorado Wednesday). Wed-nesday). That obviously doesn't sit well with the T-Birds, who put together a solid, all-around effort against Western State. The 'Birds played well for most of the game, but were absolutely awesome during two seven-minute stretches. The first came to start the game. With guard Hal Welch hitting 10 points in the first five minutes, the Big Birds ran to an early 16-2 lead. Four minutes later. SU had its largest lead of the first half at 22-6. But then suddenly the shots starting dropping for the Mounties, and not for the T-Birds. Western mixed its defenses well, -and its patterned, well-executed offense produced good inside shots, most of which they hit. The 'Birds had their shots as well, but they just wouldn't fall for about a five-minute five-minute stretch. SU also committed a healthy percentage of its 11 first-half turnovers during this mid-half swoon. Western slowly chipped into the big T-Bird margin, getting it to three twice--32-29 and 36-33-in the waning moments of the first half. Only a last-minute, five-point surge restored the T-Birds to a comfortable lead, 41-33, at the half. The second big Thunderbird feast came in the first seven minutes of the second half. The hosts virtually matched their impressive first half start, blitzing the puzzled Mountaineers 18-4 over the first six minutes of the final half. Not only were the T-Birds most impressive offensively-most of their buckets cameinside on easy shots-but they cranked down hard defensively as ( Well. - ' - ;y The first four points for Western State ; in the second half came at the free throw line. They didn't convert their first bucket from the field until over six minutes had elapsed. Western was able to put together short scoring bursts, but never got the game closer than the 17-point margin at the final buzzer. Southern Utah kept the pressure on late in the third 10 minutes and claimed its largest lead--24 points--with a little less than 11 minutes left. From there, it was garbage time, and SUSC was able to coast home easily for the win. The big lead allowed coach Tom McCracken to empty his bench in the final few minutes. As earlier this season, balanced scoring was a big key to T-Bird success. Six SUSC players were able to get double figures. Hal Welch, for the third time in five games since Dave Knudsen's injury, led the T-Birds, this time with 16 points. Welch has upped his scoring average from under seven, to nine points a game in the past five encounters, averaging 19.8 points per game over that stretch. Rounding out the production was Steve Hoagland with 14, Russ Hafen and Dean O'Driscoll with 13 and Norman Nor-man Adams and Scott Wallace with 10 apiece. The big win lifted the T-Birds to 9-8 in the RMAC, 13-11 overall, and assured them of finishing better than .500 for the campaign. SU must now depend on Eastern New Mexico to knock off Santa Fe for a crack at the number eight playoff spot. Ft. Lewis, though probably finishing behind SU in the RMAC, has assured itself a spot in those playoffs. f ' ; fill l' -I i. v J It- . V . A Aft t.'r ' 4H Susc forward Brett Bell gets hammered ham-mered underneath during the first half of SUSC's 80-63 trouncing of Kcrord phu'.o by I rc W arnli k Western State. No foul was called; the ball w was awarded out of bounds to the T-Birds. |