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Show SUSC Men and Women's Basketball teams honored at no host Luncheon Men's and women's basketball teams at Southern Utah State College will be honored Thursday (March 24) at a no host luncheon being co-sponsored by the Cedar City Chamber of Commerce and SUSC. "The public is invited to attend the luncheon, which will begin at noon at the Sugar Loaf Cafe," Garth Jones, Chamber executive secretary, said. Coach Stan Jack and Coach Joy Wood will speak briefly on their teams' performances in post-season tournaments. The Thunderbird men finished their season with a 21-7 record, the best ever as a four-year school. On the way to that record, the T-Birds won the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate In-tercollegiate Athletics) District Seven championship with back-to-back victories over old rivals Grand Canyon and Mesa College. A loss to Mesa in the final regular season game of the year cost SUSC the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship, cham-pionship, but the 'Birds did finish a strong second in the RMAC. The district championship earned SUSC a berth in the color-filled color-filled 32-team national NAIA tournament. The T-Birds fell to Southwest Oklahoma State in the first game of the single-elimination single-elimination tournament. Jack was named District Seven coach of the year for his efforts in guiding the team. Members of the team will be introduced at the dinner. The women's team closed its season just last week by finishing third in the Intermountain Women's Conference championship cham-pionship playoffs in Denver. Coach Joy Wood's squad finished the year with an 18-4 record and the co-championship (along with Idaho State University) of the Western Division of the Intermountain In-termountain Conference. The Lady T-Birds will be introduced in-troduced at the luncheon. The squad was just one step away from a berth in the national women's tournament, the counterpart to the NAIA tournament. tour-nament. "We hope that these two coaches and their teams can reflect to the public some of the color and excitement and value of these regional and national tournaments," Royden C. Braithwaite, SUSC president, said. "Both have represented the institution and this southern Utah area in an outstanding manner. It is fitting that the Chamber and SUSC join in honoring these fine athletes for what they have accomplished." |