ST. GEORGE – It had been 1,001 days since Zach Robbins last competed in the trenches of a Pacific West Conference game. Time away from the rigors of league play did not show up Saturday night, as the sophomore center posted a double-double helping the Dixie State College men’s basketball team to a 82-64 victory over Hawai‘i Hilo inside the Burns Arena.
Dixie State rebounded from a pair of losses last weekend in Colorado to improve to 4-2 on the year, while taking a positive first step to 1-0 in the PacWest.
Robbins had 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting from the field and pulled down 14 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. Not too bad for the post player who missed two full seasons while serving his church mission.
“We play really well in spurts,” Robbins said. “Tonight, the second half was an entire spurt.”
Dixie State outscored UH Hilo 39-23 over the final 20 minutes. The Vulcans struggled shooting 20 percent from the floor and 18 percent from distance in the second half.
Junior forward Dalton Groskreutz led all scorers with 19 points. Twelve of those points came late as the talented player hit four of the team’s 13 buckets.
Both teams shot over 50 percent in the first half. The Red Storm led by as many early, but late turnovers and solid execution of the Hilo offense cut the DSC advantage to just two at the break, 43-41.
Defense sparked the Storm’s 25-7 run over 12 minutes midway through the second half, the critical span aiding in victory.
Head coach Jon Judkins expressed his happiness with the increased focus of his team on the defensive side.
“We challenged them to keep them in front of you, keep them out of the middle and contest shots,” Judkins said. “Our goals included rebounding and running the lanes, we did a better job of that.”
After surrendering 20 points inside the paint to UHH in the first half, DSC succeeded in closing up lanes in the key holding Hilo to just six points over the final 20 minutes.
Eleven players scored for Dixie State. DeQuan Thompson (12) and McKay Massey (10) joined Groskreutz and Robbins in double figures. Two Storm players had career scoring nights – Brandon Simister with nine points and Dillon Bishoff with six.
C.J. Brown netted 15 points for the Vulcans (1-5, 0-1 PWC) in the losing effort.
Dixie State faces a stern test Monday night as the Silverswords of Chaminade enter the Burns Arena for their inaugural PacWest game of the year. Tip with Chaminade is set for 7:30 p.m.
NOTES: Dixie State men’s basketball unveiled a new white home jersey for the PacWest opener … DSC recorded eight team blocks, tying the single-game record – matching a Jan. 21, 2012 performance against Hawai‘i Pacific … The acoustics in the Burns Arena received a major upgrade thanks to President Naduald, who approved the funding for a state-of-the-art system installed since the last home game. Thanks also to Poll Sound for their speedy work to get the system up and running.
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Copyright 2012 St. George News.