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Show T-Birds in thick of RMAC race By MIKE CANNON Sports Writer CEDAR CITY The streaking Southern Utah State Thunderbirds were stunned momentarily last week as they lost to talented Western New Mexico 74-64, but Uiey regrouped Saturday and Monday to topple New Mexico Highlands 90-81 and Mesa College 75-68. "It was a big week for us," exclaimed SU coach Tom McCracken. "We could have really opened up a gap on them (WNM). If we had won we would have had a two-game lead on the field. That's why it was really disappointing. It was disheartening." Despite the loss, which, incidentally, snapped a ten-game home winning streak and nine-game Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference winning streak, SUSC still finds itself in the thick of the chase for the conference crown. The 'Birds are now 6-1 in RMAC play, and Western New Mexico is a half-game ahead at 7-1. Southern Utah now will go on the road for six consecutive conference and District Seven games that will make or break their season. Southern Utah will face a vastly improved Western State club Friday and then the University of Southern Colorado on Saturday. They will then battle Mesa Monday. On Jan. 30, SUSC will travel to Grand Canyon, and then the 'Birds will face Regis and Colorado Mines on Feb. 5-6. McCracken doesn't feel the pain from the loss to WNM will linger with his club. "It isn't going to be any major thing for us," said McCracken. "Those things happen in athletics." The game against the Mustangs was much closer than the final score indicated. SUSC led 34-31 at the half and was up by five with 8:28 remaining in the contest. Three key calls went against the T-Birds and Western New Mexico went up 66-62, they then hit a steaming 12-14 from the line down the stretch to ice the win and pad the score. WNM out boarded the Thunderbirds 29-16 to dominate underneath. They shot a sizzling 58.3 percent from the field and 81.8 percent from the line. Harold Ware had 23 points to lead the Mustangs. For SUSC, Dean O'Driscoll had 20 and Willie Hicks added 16. Norm Adams had four boards to lead the 'Birds and Steve Hoagland had ten assists. "Practice was like a morgue," said McCracken, referring to the practice after the WNM loss. "We had to get mentally back into it." SUSC got back into it against New Mexico Highlands, though they definetly looked flat. "We played well enough to win," explained McCracken. "We really dominated them on the boards." McCracken lauded O'Driscoll for a super performance against NMH. The big forward had 23 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Hal Welch had 14, Steve Hoagland 10 and Norm Adams 10 to help the Thunrierbird scoring effort. Hoagland again had 10 assists and Todd Christensen grabbed 12 boards. Southern Utah led by ten at the half and the game was never really in doubt, though Highlands stayed in contention throughout. NMH pulled to within one after the second stanza started, but then SU pulled away and , held Highlands at bay. Against Mesa Monday, excellent perimeter shooting made the difference for SUSC. Mesa shut off O'Driscoll somewhat underneath and the T-Bird guards came through. "We were able to hit the perimeter shots," said McCracken. "Mesa's a good, scrappy team." SUSC led Mesa 34-30 at half time. With 5:48 remaining in the game, Mesa tied it at 5 56-56. SUSC then scored nine unanswered points to put it out of reach. Hal Welch and Willie Hicks hit from the outside for 19 and 16 points respectively. Norm Adams hit for 12 and O'Driscoll had 10. O'Driscoll had 10 rebounds to lead the SU assault on the glass. , mm mm ii CZSr . ! - V t ' A t j SUSC hoopster Dean O'Driscoll heeds for the hoop during action against Mesa. O'Driscoll is averaging 13.3 points per outing and shooting 66 percent from the field. SUSC is 6-1 in RMAC play and will now take to the road for six games. |