Box Score SLCC Men's Basketball Escapes with Road Win Over USU-Eastern

Bruins tie game with three point shot at final horn, secure victory in overtime

	1	2	OT	Final
SLCC	37	32	13	82
USU-E	37	32	10	79

Price, UT—The No. 21-ranked SLCC Men's Basketball team (20-4, 7-2 SWAC) defeated in-state opponent USU-Eastern (USU-E) (17-6, 4-5 SWAC) 82-79 on Thursday night in Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) play. SLCC now leads the regular season series with the Golden Eagles 2-0 and the Bruins remain in second place in the SWAC standings.

The Bruins trailed 69-66 with just 9.6 seconds remaining in the contest, but a three point basket from sophomore forward Kurtis Toolson (Gilbert, AZ) at the end of regulation forced overtime. Salt Lake outscored USU-Eastern 13-10 in the extra period to secure the road win.

SLCC out-rebounded USU-Eastern 40-32 and shot 41.8 percent from the field. The Bruins went 14-for-22 from three point range and finished at 65.6 percent from the foul line. USU-Eastern shot 48.4 percent from the field but the Golden Eagles were held to just 22.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Bruins finished with 17 offensive rebounds in the winning effort.

Stats vs. USU-E: Bruin sophomore guard Gary Payton II (Las Vegas, NV) led all scorers with 27 points on 5-for-6 from three point range and had nine rebounds to go with five assists. The future Oregon State Beaver was also 8-of-9 from the free throw line.

Sophomore guard Jaden Jackson (Salt Lake City, UT) finished with 18 points on 6-for-11 from beyond the arc. Toolson turned in a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Next up for Head Coach Todd Phillips and the Bruins is a road matchup with Colorado Northwestern Community College (CNCC) (7-15, 1-7 SWAC) on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 5 p.m. in Rangeley, CO. SLCC defeated CNCC 94-61 on Jan. 11 at Bruin Arena.