Take-off

SUU impresses to start,
but lets big lead slip in 77-76 loss

By RICH JOHNSON
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

Cary Cochran hit a three-pointer with nine seconds remaining as SUU lost its first men’s basketball exhibition game 77-76 to Global Sports on Tuesday.
Despite an 18-point second half SUU lead, the ‘Birds fell to the all-star team, which is made up of former college players from various schools.
“We were up 18 and we saw it on the scoreboard and we’d thought we had already won,” guard Jay Collins said. “At this level, you can’t relax. Otherwise, teams will beat you.”
Global Sports struggled to score in the first half, managing only 27 points against a stifling SUU defense. However, the ‘Birds allowed 50 points in the second half, including 18 from George Banks.
“He’s a very good player and scored a lot of points, but we didn’t do a as good of a job as we need to do,” said SUU Head Coach Bill Evans. “We had some easy baskets that we didn’t make and that hurt us.”
Banks, who played college ball at New Mexico State, led all scorers with 29 points on 13-20 shooting.
“They came out and made an adjustment and we didn’t adjust back,” Collins said. “And he was able to score points.”
SUU led 64-46 with 12:17 remaining after a layup by Jordan Mulford. Global Sports responded and cut the lead to 73-70 after a 18-5 run.
“We got outworked in the second half, and that shouldn’t happen,” SUU forward Donnie Jackson said. “We’ve got a lot of talent on this team. In the first half, we were doing what the coach asked us to do: move the ball, screens and play defense and pressure the ball. The second half, we just didn’t any of that.”
Evans said he thought the ’Birds may have been tired at the end of the game, which may have contributed to the loss.
“We wore down a little bit,” Evans said. “We scored six points in nine minutes. There are some things to repair, but I think they’re all repairable.”
The game was just an exhibition, but Jackson said it was still a tough loss.
“This is a learning experience, basically,” Jackson said. “But any loss is a tough loss. ”
The exhibition will help SUU because the ’Birds can see what the team needs to improve on, Jackson said.
“We know we have to play for 40 full minutes, instead of just 20 minutes, thinking we can win the game,” Jackson said.
Jackson and Al Williams led the ‘Birds with 15 points. Collins added 10 points and 7 assists.
SUU shot 47.1 percent from the field in the first half, as it rushed out to a 41-27 halftime lead. However, the ‘Birds struggled from the field in the second half, shooting only 37.5 percent.
“We came out well offensively,” Collins said. “We executed really well. The second half, we didn’t execute near as well and didn’t set as good of screens.”
Evans said although his team didn’t show it in the game, the ’Birds are better offensively this season than last year.
The ’Birds also struggled on the boards in the second half, pulling down only 17 rebounds to Global Sports’ 24. SUU