CEDAR CITY — Robbie Warren tipped in a miss of a Jason Baker shot with 2.6 seconds remaining to lift Southern Utah to a 74-73 win over Oakland University Thursday night, breaking a six-game losing streak for the Thunderbi rds and giving them their first conference win.
The win lifted SUU to 1-3 in Mid-Continent Conference play (5-10 overall) while Oakland dropped to 1-4 in leag,ue play (7-10 overall).
Southern Utah led throughout the game and was up by as many as 14 points in both halves. Oakland rallied in the final five minutes, however, and took its only lead at 73-72 with 10 seconds to play when Rawle Marshall converted a 3-point play after scoring inside, getting fouled and converting the free throw.
Jason Baker pushed the ball upcourt on the ensuing possession, drove along the baseline to the basket and after his shot bounced long, Warren corralled it and put it back in for the game winner.
Warren finished with a career-high 18 points, while Baker had 21 and DeAngelo Newsom chipped in 13 for the Thunderbirds. David Palmer, SUU's leading scorer entering the game, played nine minutes and scored just two points after picking up two fouls early in each half.
"That was a great effort by Robbie," SUU coach Bill Evans pointed out. "He's been playing well for us lately, and even though he only had a couple of rebounds he played hard and shot the ball very well."
SUU shot .667 percent from the floor, its best percentage of the year, converting 30-of-45 shots, while holding Oakland to .439 percent on 25-of-57 shooting.