IPFW 66, S. Utah 62

3/9/2008 7:51 PM

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -David Carson scored four of his 17 points in the final 2 minutes to lead IPFW to a 66-62 win against Southern Utah in the quarterfinals of the Summit League tournament on Sunday night.

Demetrius Johnson sank two tiebreaking free throws with 2:32 left to give the Mastodons a 60-58 lead, and Carson followed with a basket and two free throws for a six-point cushion.

Fifth-seeded Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne (13-17) advanced to play top-seeded Oral Roberts, the two-time defending conference champions, in the semifinals Monday night.

Free throws and 3-pointers proved to be the difference. IPFW went 17-of-21 from the foul line, compared to 8-for-22 for Southern Utah, and the Mastodons also made seven of their 16 attempts from 3-point range.

The fourth-seeded Thunderbirds (11-20), who went 2-for-9 on 3-pointers, lost their conference tournament opener for the fifth consecutive year.

Southern Utah's Geoff Payne produced all 14 of his points in the second half but missed all eight of his free throws, including four in the last 2:09. He entered the game averaging 20.8 points and shooting 71 percent on free throws.

Tyler Quinney added 11 points, including 10 in the first half, and Rick Roberts had 11 rebounds for Southern Utah. The Thunderbirds had a 35-26 edge on the boards.

DeWitt Scott had 14 points and Jaraun Burrows scored 13 for IPFW, which avenged an overtime loss at Southern Utah eight days earlier.

Scott had a four-point play to spark an 8-0 run to give the Mastodons their biggest advantage at 54-45 with 11:39, but Southern Utah rallied right back to tie the game at 56 on a Cris Hoopes layup.