CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Wade Collie scored 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds and Southern Utah jumped out to an 11-2 lead to begin the game and never looked back, defeating Eastern Washington 69-55 on Saturday night.

Southern Utah (7-12, 5-5 Big Sky) had two others in double figures against the Thunderbirds with Damon Heuir scoring 17 points and Jackson Stevenett chipping in with 16 points and six rebounds.

Down 11-2, the Eagles fought back with a 16-6 run to take an 18-17 lead with 10:23 to go in the first half and eventually led 33-31 at halftime.

Southern Utah took over after halftime however, opening the second half with a 24-12 run capped off by Stevenett's jumper to make it 55-45 with 8:15 remaining and kept its double-digit lead for the rest of the game.

Collin Chiverton had 14 points to lead Eastern Washington (4-15, 2-7) and Venky Jois had 11 points and seven rebounds.