CEDAR CITY, Utah (Interstat) — A surging California Baptist looks to continue its climb up the Western Athletic Conference standings when it visits struggling Southern Utah on Thursday night. The Lancers (18-6, 7-2 WAC) have won seven straight games, the latest a 65-63 home victory over Abilene Christian on Saturday. They sit just a game out of first place in the conference. The Thunderbirds (8-16, 3-6), meanwhile, have lost three of their last four and are trying to stabilize their season in the second half of the league schedule. California Baptist is led by dynamic guard Dominique Daniels, who is averaging 24.7 points per game during the winning streak. He exploded for a career-high 47 points in an overtime win over Utah Valley on Jan. 24 and scored 28 points with six assists in a road win at UT Arlington on Jan. 31. In the first meeting against Southern Utah this season, a 58-55 Lancers win on Jan. 10, Daniels was held to 11 points. Southern Utah will counter with guard Elijah Duval, who is coming off an 18-point, 7-assist performance in a narrow 62-59 loss to Tarleton State. Duval has been a bright spot, scoring 29 points in a road win at Abilene Christian on Jan. 31 and 28 points with eight assists in a shootout loss at Utah Tech. The Lancers’ streak has been built on clutch play, with four of the seven wins coming by four points or fewer, including two in overtime. Southern Utah has shown it can score, averaging 78.2 points in conference play, but defense has been an issue, allowing a WAC-worst 84.4 points per game in league contests. Thursday’s matchup at Centrum Arena is the first of two scheduled meetings between the teams in the final month of the regular season. They are slated to meet again in Cedar City on March 7 in the regular-season finale for both squads. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. MST.