Dixie State gets come-from-behind victory at BYU-Hawaii

LAIE, Hawaii – Behind a 55-34 scoring advantage in the second half, the Dixie State University men’s basketball team delivered a statement win by knocking off rival and 18th-ranked BYU-Hawaii, 92-81, Thursday night at the Cannon Activities Center. The Red Storm erased multiple double deficits behind a season-high tying 26 points from Zach Robbins and the first career double-double from Trevor Hill.

The Storm claimed victory over the Seasiders by limiting them to 0-9 shooting from behind the 3-point arc after knocking in nine shots from distance in the opening 20 minutes.

dsulogoRobbins notched 21 of his game-high point total in the second half by making 8 of 9 field goals and 5 of 6 shots from the foul line. Hill paced Dixie State (9-5, 5-2 PacWest) with 13 rebounds and five assists to go with 11 points.

Three other DSU players got into double figures scoring – DeQuan Thompson posted a season-best 23 points, including 10 free throws. Mark Ogden Jr. finished with 18 points whilst six of his nine rebounds came on the offensive end. Mason Sawyer was a perfect 6 of 6 from the stripe en route to 10 points.

BYUH (10-2, 4-2 PacWest) surrendered an opening 3-ball to Robbins, but opened an 11-point midway through the first half launching bombs from distance. Pablo Coro hit six on his own to give the Seasiders a 47-37 edge at halftime after shooting 60 percent from the field. The DSU highlight in the half was a rim-rattling dunk from Thompson after he drove from the wing to the baseline at the seven-minute mark.

Red Storm G Trevor Hill (44) slashes to the hoop, Dixie State University vs. Western Oregon University, St. George, Utah, Nov. 25, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Red Storm G Trevor Hill (44) slashes to the hoop, Dixie State University vs. Western Oregon University, St. George, Utah, Nov. 25, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Dixie State flipped the script in the second half by playing solid team defense, rebounding BYUH misses and getting seven offensive rebounding to get extra looks at the hoop. After chipping away at the home team cushion, Hill put the Storm ahead at the 9:20 mark with a floater in the paint in the beginning part of a 14-4 run. Robbins followed with a jump shot and Hill trailed with a monstrous dunk forcing BYUH into a timeout.

Danny Berger, formerly of Utah State and brother of former Storm player John, put the Seasiders within three points on two occasions in the final five minutes. It would be solid foul shooting for Dixie State and three misses from distance in the final minute that iced away the game.

Dixie State dominated the battle of the boards, 47-31. The Storm only hit two shots from behind the arc, but finished 28 of 65 (43.1) from the field overall.

DSU will have eight days off before its next contest at home. The Storm will battle another ranked team, Azusa Pacific, on January 17 at the Burns Arena. The contest against the Cougars will tip off at 7:30 p.m. MT and will be broadcast via SouthernUtahLive.com and the Red Storm Radio Network.

GAME NOTES: Dixie State trailed by double figures in all three games during the Hawaii road trip and ended the journey with a 2-1 record … DSU won the battle of the paint despite not having a height advantage, 40-26 … Tuesday’s win was the third straight road win in the series – the last loss at BYUH came in 2010 (91-74) … Dixie State has won three consecutive overall against the Seasiders and five of the last six … Dixie State is 2-1 against ranked teams this year, beating then-No. 22 PLNU on the road and losing at then-No. 17 California Baptist.

Stats: DSU 92, BYUH 81

Women’s basketball
BYU-H 76, DSU 66

The game was within three points until late in the second half, but the Dixie State women’s basketball team dropped a 76-66 game at BYU-Hawaii on Thursday night.

Taylor Mann posted her fourth double-double in five games with 10 points and 15 rebounds. Kaylah Miller scored 17 to lead Dixie State in scoring while Leslie Tademy had 10 points and eight assists. Chermayne Moore came off the bench to score 13 points, adding six rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Taylor Mann
Taylor Mann

The Red Storm (5-9, 4-4) played tough all game but couldn’t find enough points in the final minutes and let BYU-Hawaii (7-5, 4-2) get away in the end.

“We have to learn to take care of the ball down the stretch of a game,” head coach Jenny Thigpin said. “We gave up too many transition buckets off of our turnovers. Overall the girls fought hard but we just need to capitalize in the last four minutes.”

Both teams started out slow from the field but stayed neck-and-neck throughout the first half. Dixie State had a slight edge at 21-20 inside of 10 minutes in the first half.

A 6-0 run from BYU-Hawaii made it 35-32 with just over two minutes to go, but down three a minute later Miller drained a long trey to tie it up at 37-37.

Two makes from the charity stripe gave Dixie State the lead but a last-possession 3-pointer from the Seasiders sent Dixie State into the break down 40-39.

The first five minutes of second half action were just the same with BYU-Hawaii and DSU all knotted up at 50-50.

Both teams traded buckets over the next few minutes but Dixie State fell behind by three again at 65-57 with under six minutes to play.

Down nine, the Red Storm put together a 6-0 run to climb back in to make it 68-65 with 3:02 to go.

The shots wouldn’t fall down the stretch though and the Seasiders stretched their lead at the free throw line to win it 76-66.

Dixie State returns home to take on Azusa Pacific in St. George on Saturday, Jan. 17.

Stats: BYUH 76, DSU 66

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.

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