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Show SUSC zaps Western St., ready for playoffs CEDAR CITY - It's been a mighty big several days for Southern Utah State College basketball, and the Thunderbirds have risen to the occasion, dropping a heartbreaker to Rocky mountain Athletic Conference champion Western New Mexico last week, but turning around and thumping New Mexico Highlands and Western State college in two subsequent encounters. With a big 84-73 win over Western Tuesday, the T-Birds clinched second place in the RMAC and should be hosting a District Seven playoff game Saturday. Southern Utah nipped 'Highlands 104-98 Friday and lost to Western New Mexico 58-56 earlier last week. Tuesday's ballgame was very well played, and superb T-Bird bench strength and outstanding senior-leadership senior-leadership pulled the 'Birds through against a tough Western State team. "They're a legitimate contender, said SUSC coach Tom McCracken, referring to Western State. "We knew that they had good offensive players. It was a well-played ballgame. Our senior leadership showed up well." McCracken was especially pleased with the play of his bench and the way that his team plays together with unselfishness. "That's the great thing about this team, we've got so many kids we can call on. It's a very unselfish ballclub. That's one of the keys to our success. We do not have any selfishness on the team. It's just a good team effort." Carl Anderson played a fine game off the bench for Southern Utah, hitting 16 points, including 14 down the stretch when Western State was making a bid. Gene Player turned in a good defensive performance and added eight points. Dean O'Driscoll led the SUSC scoring barrage. O'Driscoll hit 20 points. Senior guard Steve Hoagland netted 16, and Willie Hicks chipped in with 9. "Dean's a competitor, he's tough," stated McCracken, praising his big forward for his efforts. The 'Birds were a sizzling 20-25 from the foul line .for 80 percent. O'Driscoll was 6-6 from the line and Anderson 4-4. For Western State, Benny Wright led the way with 24 points. Dwight Freeman was close behind Wright with 21. Against Highlands on Friday, O'Driscoll again hit 20 points to lead Southern Utah. Hoagland scored 18, Hal Welch netted 16, Todd Christensen totaled 12 and Gene Player and Norm Adams each had 11. 'Highlands beat the Thunderbirds on the battle of the boards, grabbing 35 takedowns to only 28 for SUSC. Hot Thunderbird shooting proved to make the difference in the game. Southern Utah State hit 41-68 from the field for 60.2 percent. New Mexico Highlands shot a very respectable 49.3 percent. Norm Adams was the big factor for SUSC last week against Western New Mexico. Adams hit 18 points, Hoagland had 12 and Hicks and O'Driscoll added 10 apiece. The game was superbly played and went down to the wire. Southern Utah State trailed by two in the final seconds and had two chances to tie. Hicks missed a jump shot with seconds left, and O'Driscoll couldn't hit a turnaround turn-around jumper at the buzzer, and the game belonged to Western New Mexico. y . I mv 1 SUSC's Gene Player scores two |