The Southern Utah Thunderbirds put on an impressive offensive display and beat The UTEP Miners Men’s Basketball team 82-69 in the second round of the Basketball Classic Tuesday night at the Don Haskins Center.
The game got off to a fast start as both teams traded buckets for the first six minutes in the half. At one point the Miners would have a 5 point lead on the Thunderbirds but with nine minutes left to go in the half and down 18-17, Southern Utah, led by Nick Fleming’s 15 first half points would go on an 18-2 run that would give the Thunderbirds a 40-29 lead at halftime.
Once the Southern Utah took the lead, they never gave it up. In the second half, the Thunderbirds built up an 18 point lead on the Miners. And this time it was Dre Marin that got hot for Southern Utah as he had 12 points in the second half.
The Miners would go on a run in the middle of the second half but it wouldn’t be enough as Southern Utah would win the game 82-69 and end the Miners’ season.
Nick Fleming ended up leading the Thunderbirds in points as he had a season high 18 points. Southern Utah would have four other players in double figures including Dre Marin’s 17 points.
For the Miners they were lead by Souley Boum who had 25 points. UTEP would have two other players in double figures as Keonte Kennedy scored 15 points and Christian Agnew had 13 points.
After the game, UTEP Coach Joe Golding talked about the loss and the season:
The first season under Joe Golding was a successful one as UTEP had a 20 win season. The Miners will now head to the offseason looking to improve and regroup for the 2022-23 season.