CEDAR CITY, Utah—Nic Fuller hit an 18-foot jumper at the buzzer to lift Colorado-Colorado Springs over Southern Utah 79-78 Friday night.
Fuller took an inbound pass, dribbled around two defenders at mid-court and pulled up just inside the 3-point line with a shot that banked in for the game-winner.
Fuller scored 21 points to lead the Division II Mountain Lions (4-1).
Southern Utah (1-6) rallied from a 15-point deficit to take the lead on Geoff Payne’s three-point play with four seconds left, but couldn’t stop Fuller at the end.
Kyle Perkins scored 15 points, and Eric Davis scored 14 for the Mountain Lions, who shot 48 percent from 3-point range and 56 percent overall.
Payne scored 22 points and had 12 rebounds for Southern Utah, which won the rebound battle 38-28. David Marek scored 14 points and Tate Sorensen added 11.
After falling behind 52-37 early in the second half, Marek made a layup that got Southern Utah within 69-66 with 3:17 remaining.
The Thunderbirds were down by two when they forced a turnover on an inbound pass and Payne made a layup while getting fouled. Payne made the free throw to give Southern Utah a short-lived lead.
