Geoff Payne leads Southern Utah over South Dakota St. 77-71

2/14/2008 10:42 PM

CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) -Geoff Payne had 22 points and six assists and Nurudeen Adepoju scored 17 as Southern Utah beat South Dakota State 77-71 on Thursday night.

Adepoju made 5 of 9 3-pointers for the Thunderbirds (7-17, 5-8 Summit League), who shot 58 percent in the second half and held the Jackrabbits (8-17, 3-11) without a field goal for more than 11 minutes down the stretch.

South Dakota State also had 22 turnovers and went 6-for-19 from the floor in the second half after shooting 60 percent in the first.

Garrett Callahan led South Dakota State with 20 points and Kai Williams scored 10 points.

Southern Utah snapped a three-game losing streak Saturday with a win over Missouri-Kansas City and has won two in a row.

South Dakota State has lost five of six.

Williams hit a 3-pointer late in the first half that broke a 39-all tie and gave the Jackrabbits a 42-39 halftime lead.

The Thunderbirds took the lead early in the second half, then held the Jackrabbits without a field goal for 11:39 late in the second half. South Dakota State was able to stay in it with free throws, but not quite enough to stop Southern Utah.

After South Dakota State got within 65-58, Southern Utah was on the verge of a shot clock violation when Dave Marek put up a 3-pointer just before the buzzer. It went in and the Thunderbirds took a 68-59 lead with about 5 minutes left.