RENO, Nev. Nov. 17 - Damon Heuir scored 14 points to
lead four Thunderbirds in double figures but Cal State Fullerton shot 64.9
percent from the field and forced 31 turnovers in taking a 112-69 win over the
Thunderbirds at the World Vision Classic Saturday night.
Jackson Stevenett added 13 points and pulled down a
game-high six rebounds for the Thunderbirds, who dropped to 0-3 on the season,
while Julian Scott had a career-high 11 and Chris Nsenki had his best scoring
night as a Thunderbird with 10.
Fullerton's DJ Seeley scored 32 points to lead all scorers,
hitting 10-0f-13 shots in the game while Kwame Brown added 19 as four Titans
scored in double-figures as well. CS Fullerton pickedup its first win of the
season and moved to 1-2.
"DJ is a transfer from Cal, a Pac-12 level player and he did
a good job tonight making shots," SUU Coach Nick Robinson said. "He's a very
good basketball player, he's doing a good job for Coach [Andy] Newman" (a
former SUU player who is in his first season as the head coach at CSF).
SUU shot the ball well in the first half, hitting 12-of-22
shots (.545), but CSF hit 19-26, 73.1 percent in the period. Alex Harris hit
4-of-4 3-pointers for 12 points and Seeley hit 7-of-9 shots and had 21 points
in the half.
"Right from the start we had two teams fighting for a win,
they were able to make shots consistently throughout the game," Robinson
pointed out. "They are experienced and they made shots. Their quickness gave us
some problems at times, but they shot the ball very well.
"We also shot the ball well in the first half but turned it
over too much," he went on to say. "Taking care of the basketball has got be a
high priority for us. They got 44 points off turnovers and its something that
has to be a high priority for us."
Robinson said he was encouraged by the play of a handful of
his reserves and yougner players. Jordan Johnson came off the bench to score
nine points while Drake Thomas led the Thunderbirds with six assists, Nsenki
had a career scoring high, Julian Scott scored a career-high 11 points and Cal
Hanks Had three rebounds, a block and a steal.
"We got some good play from some players who haven't had an opportunity
to play a lot," he noted. "Jordan brought a lot of energy to the game, Cal
played well, Chris Nsenki came off the bench and helped us and Drake had six
assists to lead the team. Julian was able to score the ball for us as well."
Southern Utah winds up the tournament Sunday afternoon when
it takes on host Nevada at 3:30 p.m. (PST).
-- SUU --
