Drake Allen scored 18 points with nine assists and two blocks to lead Utah Valley to a 78-75 road win over Southern Utah on Saturday night at America First Event Center in Cedar City.

With the win, Utah Valley improves to 12-14 overall and 7-8 in WAC play and completes its first road sweep of the season with its 69-46 win at California Baptist on Thursday night. It also wraps up a series sweep for UVU over Southern Utah this season with its 80-62 win over SUU in Orem on Jan. 6.

“It’s a great win for our guys and completes a road sweep for us,” said Utah Valley head coach Todd Phillips. “In these Saturday games your legs are dragging and heavy. The turnaround is so quick. I was proud of our guys for hanging in there at the end. It was the Drake Allen show tonight. He was tremendous. The crowd was on him all night long, so I know it felt good for him. He carried us all night and I’m really proud of him.”

Utah Valley led 76-71 with just under two minutes to play but SUU knocked down a jumper and converted on an and-one free throw with 1:29 remaining to cut UVU’s lead to just two points, 76-74.

After a UVU missed three-pointer, SUU went back to the free throw line and made 1 of 2 shots to cut the UVU lead to one point, 76-75, with one minute to play.

UVU missed a jumper and then stopped three straight SUU scoring opportunities before Jaden McClanahan pulled down a rebound with 12 seconds to play. Caleb Stone-Carrawell then knocked down a pair of free throws with seven seconds on the clock and then held SUU scoreless over the final seven seconds to secure the win.

In the first half, Southern Utah jumped out to a 14-4 lead through the first 5:30 of the game and held on to the 10-point lead, 19-9, with 11:41 to go in the half.

The T-Birds went up by 11, 26-15, with 9:19 on the clock and the Wolverines responded with a Dorius bucket and a Toolson three to spark a 15-4 UVU run over the next 4:10 tie the game, 30-30, with 4:32 to play in the first.

Southern Utah outscored Utah Valley 10-9 over the final four minutes to take a 39-38 lead over UVU into the break.

Utah Valley and Southern Utah played through nine lead changes and two ties over the first eight minutes of the second half with the Wolverines taking a 55-53 lead with 13:20 to play. The Wolverines then used a 13-0 run over the next 2:42 to take a 64-55 lead with 10:40 to go.

UVU then outscored the T-Birds 10-8 over the next 4:38 to give the Wolverines a nine-point, 72-63, lead with 6:29 on the clock. SUU then scored six unanswered to cut the UVU lead to three points, 72-69, with 3:37 to play.

The T-Birds then outscored UVU 8-4 over the next 2:54 to cut the UVU lead to only one point, 76-75, with 33 seconds to play and set up the drama of the final moments.

Allen scored his 18 points on 9 of 17 shooting from the field. He also dished out nine assists with two blocks and a pair of rebounds in 35 minutes of play.

Ethan Potter recorded his fourth straight double digit scoring game with 15 points to go along with a team-high six rebounds. Potter knocked down 7 of 15 shots and was a perfect 1-for-1 at the free throw line.

Stone-Carrawell scored 14 points with four rebounds. Trevin Dorius was also in double figures with 10 points with five rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.

Osiris Grady came off the bench to score eight points with four rebounds in 19 minutes of play.

Utah Valley shot 52.2% (36-69) from the field on the night with a 25% (2-8) mark from three-point range. UVU only shot five free throws and connected on four of them for an 80% clip. UVU held SUU to 44.8% (30-67) shooting with a 16.7% (3-18) mark from long range.

UVU outscored SUU 60-48 in the paint and outrebounded the T-Birds 36-35.

Utah Valley now returns to Orem for a pair of WAC games against UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday and versus Stephen F. Austin on Saturday. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and over the airwaves on ESPN 960 AM radio.

Courtesy SUU Athletics

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