Cedar City • Brandon Better and Dwayne Morgan combined to score 31 points as Southern Utah rallied late and then held off Idaho State 84-80 to halt a three-game skid in Big Sky Conference play on Saturday afternoon.

Trailing 64-53, Morgan scored seven straight points to spark a 19-4 run, capped by Morgan's two free throws for a 72-68 lead with 5:05 left. The Thunderbirds pushed their advantage to 79-72 as they held Idaho State to just four points over seven minutes.

Idaho State's Brandon Boyd made three consecutive free throws, Jared Stutzman nailed a 3 and Boyd followed with a layup to close to 82-80 with 12 seconds left. Better was fouled and made both free throws to seal the victory as Southern Utah made 11 free throws down the stretch.

Better had 16 points, hitting four from distance, and Morgan added 15 points. Jamal Aytes and Christian Musoko had 12 points apiece for Southern Utah (9-13, 3-8).