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CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) -- Steve Barnes scored 24 points, matching his career high, and Southern Utah went 9-for-10 from the foul line in the final three minutes, as the Thunderbirds beat Weber State 75-63 Saturday night.
Swaney Cooper scored 12 points for Southern Utah (7-3), which has won four of its last five games. It was also Coach Bill Evans' 200th career victory.
Tyler Billings scored 14 points to lead Weber State (5-5). David Patten had 12 points, while Daviin Davis and Steve Panos added 11 each.
Led by Cooper's eight rebounds, Southern Utah outrebounded the taller Wildcats 28-23, and the Thunderbirds forced 16 turnovers, but the game was decided at the foul line.
Southern Utah made 27 of 32 free throws, while the Wildcats --losers of four of their last five -- went 11-for-19.
The Thunderbirds enjoyed their biggest lead, 53-36, with 12:02 to play, but Billings hit consecutive 3-pointers from opposite corners as part of a 9-0 spurt that cut the lead to eight points.
Barnes ended the run with a breakaway layup after Justin Allen tipped a Weber State inbound pass away from Davis and went diving into the scorer's table to save it to Barnes at midcourt.
Junior Abrahao's 3-pointer from the top of the key with 6:21 to play restored a 12-point cushion, 61-49.
The Wildcats rallied again, as Panos was fouled on a layup but missed the free throw. Davis followed with a successful tip, cutting the Thunderbird lead to 64-58 with 3:16 left.
Barnes hit four foul shots down the stretch, and Allen made three more before converting a crowd-pleasing fast-break dunk that set the final margin with 17.6 seconds left.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV-12-09-06 2302MST
