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Show f ., u N I E R s I y SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY• MONDAY , JANUARY 24 2000 'BirdS top Cougars BY JASEN ASAY JOURNAL SPORTS EDITOR suu·s men's basketball team sent a message to the rest of the teams in the Mid-Continent Conference Saturday night when they beat Chicago State, a team tied for first place 1n the league, 90-69 in the Centrum. ·we had another great team effort out there tonight," SUU Head Coach 8 111 Evans said The Thunderbirds (8-9, 4-3 MidCon) went on a pair of runs that helped them pull ahead of the Cougars (8-9, 5-2 Mid-Con}, and control the game. Ross Day capped off an 18-4 run with one of his three three-pointers of the game, putting the Thunderbirds ahead 23-··n with 8· 14 left in the first half. Early 1n the second half, Fred House hit a three-pointer which sparked a 14-3 run. Six different Thunderbirds scored during the run. Tyson Hancock and House each scored a game-high 20 points. House also finished with nine rebounds and six steals. The 'Birds owned the boards by outrebounding the Cougars 46-35, with Jim Faulkner grabbing a game-high 10. Jeff Monaco scored 14 points, including shooting four-for-four from the three point line, and added nine assists and three steals. •Assists were there for me tonight,· said Monaco. "My team ran the floor welL" CSU's 7-1 center Darrell Johns, who averages more than 13 points a game, was held to eight points. SUU's big men Chris Wallin, Nate Bloom, John Wheeler and B.J. Chandler all took turns shutting down Johns. The four big men combined for just 15 points. · 1think what the big guys do is not so much on offense, but defense," said Evans. The 'Birds also had a great game Thursday, when they beat Western Illinois University 75-60. The game stayed close until the 'Birds started to pull away in the fin al {ive minutes "The guys maintained their composure," said Evans. who also said he was pleased with how his team stayed focused the whole game. SUU finished the game with a 14-5 run against the Leathernecks. The tun was started by House's rim-rattling rebound dunk w ith 4:56 left in the game. (continued on page 10) '" ,. Tyson Hancock flies in the air while Chicago State's Tim Bryant does his best to get in Hancock's way. Hancock scores 20 points as SUU beat Chicago State 90-69 Saturday. . |