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Show SOUTHERN UTAH STATE COLLEGE, CEDAR CITY PAGE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1989 THE THUNDERBIRD 10 SU gets taste of Mardi Gras, New Orleans style: too bad BY BRENT RICHEY Its Mardi Gras in New Orleans and two Louisiana basketball teams are celebrating while SUSC cagers head into Lent looking like Jack Sprat. Monday night the New Orleans Privateers slapped Fat Tuesday was fatter for the the Birds 72-5Northeast Louisiana Indians as they preyed on the Birds as well, coming away with an 88-7- 1 victory. The 5 Thunderbirds are licking their wounds and wondering if clicking their heels will send them home. They say revenge is sweet. And Northeast Louisiana will probably verify that. The Indians began SUSCs Division I season with a double header in the Centrum Nov. 25 and Nov. 26. The Birds came away with two and lots of confidence that and 83-6big wins, 82-6- 2 seems to. have waned in recent weeks. It was the Indians turn to enjoy the home-couand road-wearadvantage Tuesday as SUSC, dog-tire- d bused to Monroe, La. from New Orleans to continue its grueling schedule. It might be said the Louisiana team only got half revenge because they only beat the Birds by 17 points. But a win is a win, and the Indians got 15 points from Anthony Jones and 14 from Jeff Byrd. Jerry Naulls led SUSC with 16 and Robert Nakken came off the bench to add 15 in one of his few productive games of the year. The Birds trailed 49-3- 5 at halftime and could not overcome the 63 percent field goal shooting of the Indians in the first half. NLU led by as many as 15 in that Vincent Lee capped off with two free throws putting them up by 30, but At 4:49 left in the game, the Indians led final 10 minutes to cut the Naulls scored points in the The ' Birds got a couple of whippings, but it's still hard to tell if they're learning any lessons. With only five games left in there isn't much time to tell. William Moore added 13. For the Birds it was Naulls with 18, and Marcelic with 13. Once again SUSC shot poorly from the floor hitting only 39 percent for the contest. Rebounding woes haunted the inferior Thunderbirds with the Privateers pulling down 41 to SUSCs 28. It was the same old story without the fairy tale ending. The Birds were caught with little charity hitting only 13 of 20 from the line, while New Orleans overflowed with the virtue making 25 of 39 at the stripe. 8. 8-1- 7, rt y, the-seaso- n the first half when Casey Jones hit two free throws with :31 left. But the first 12 minutes of the first half the Birds remained close. DaVor Marcelic converted a layup at but from there the 7:45 to cut the NLU lead to 26-218-- 5 with Jones ended run that Indians went on an free throws, and let the air out of Bird celebrations. SUSC never got close in the second half as the Indians opened the first seven minutes with a 21-- 5 run 5, 70-4- 0. 84-6- 0, Louisiana lead to 17. Tuesdays loss was a carbon copy of Mondays loss at New Orleans Privateers. the hands of the New Orleans Tony Harris led all scorers with 19 and 11-- 7 Rebounding, free throws, and shooting percentages are the factors that dictate winning and losing on the road, and the Birds cant seem to get all of them together in the same night. SUSC takes its 5 record to San Diego, home of United States International U. Feb. 6 to take on the Soaring Gulls. 8-1- Jacks chop women down to size In a game that didnt mean much last night in Flagstaff, Az., the NAU Lady Jacks, next in line on the Lady Bird schedule, won handily SUSC faces UTEP in El Paso Feb. 4 in the second meeting between the two teams. The Lady Birds won the first in an 85-8- 0 contest Dec. 29 in the Centrum. Stacey French had 21 points, and 20 rebounds in the win. Intangibles plagued SUSC last night. The ladies were not mentally prepared, said Head Coach Clay Anderson. If Im looking at things, its mental preparation, said Anderson. The girls arent getting ready for the game until five minutes before the game. The game was not lost on abstract factors, though, as Tanja Brungard scored 22 points and pulled down eight rebounds for NAU. Tori Sargent had 18 points. For SUSC Kim Langford led the meager scoring with 10, but had 12 rebounds as the Lady Birds outrebounded the Lady Jacks 59-5French had 1 1 off the glass for SUSC. They were a lot bigger than we were, said Anderson. NAU has seven players over six feet. Andersons 5 club has begun rebuilding for next year, he said. We can do some things to offset a bad year, he said. All the frustration is were not shooting the ball. The Lady Birds finished shooting 29 21 from percent from the field, and 9 of line. the free throw The first half was a series of trading baskets as the lead seesawed from team to team. Lexa Larsen hit a free throw with 5:22 left before the intermission to 20-1- 7 lead, but Brungard give SUSC a countered just before the half with a free throw of her own to tie the score at 25 going into the locker room. The Lady Jacks came out hot in the Birds face LJit.F Feb. t. second half going on a 13-- 2 run on 74-4- 9. 0. seven Brungard points that made it 38-2- 7 with 16:15 to play. After a Sherene Sorensen basket for the Lady Birds, Shelley Clayton kicked off a 0 NAU spurt that spanned five minutes and ended with the Lady Jacks leading 9-- 47-2- 9. with 5:33 left A Sargent three-pointin the game ended yet another NAU to lead drive outscoring SUSC 16-Scoring remained even the final five minutes, but SUSC could not climb out of the hole. Anderson said ball handling was a er 7, 63-3- 8. Anderson is looking ahead SUSC womens basketball coach Clay Anderson has begun rebuilding his clubs attitude and mentality for next season. He said there are ways of salvaging losing seasons, but maintains next year will be a pivotal year for the Lady Birds. If SUSC does not begin winning over the next two seasons, excuses will disappear, he said, and change will be inevitable. ' 6-1- Kirn Langford, left, and Kim Free battle for a hoard, i ne Laa problem for the Lady Birds, though they only committed 20 turnovers. My young players dont take care of the ball, he said highlighting the major problem of his inexperienced players. He said they fumble the ball almost every time they receive a pass from a teammate. The Lady Birds fouled out two players, Sorensen and Langford. Three other players finished the game with four fouls. Anderson said he finally figured out why his team fouled so much. Were not denying the pass down low, he said. When opponents get the ball under the basket the smaller Lady Birds have no choice but to foul, he said. |