ST. GEORGE — The Utah Tech Men’s Basketball Team went one and one during the Thanksgiving break as they lost to North Dakota on Friday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center but redeemed themselves on Saturday by beating the Titans of Cal State Fullerton in North Dakota.
Friday: Utah Tech 52, North Dakota 67
The game’s story on Friday was the cold shooting, as the Trailblazers (2-3/0-0 WAC) went icy cold during the second half, only shooting a season-low 35.1 percent (20-of-57) for the game. Behind the arc was not much better at only 3-of-18 (.167) from the perimeter.
The game started fine for the team as they started hot, hitting 7 out of 10 from the floor. They jumped out to a 15-6 lead with seven minutes of play in the first half. The Fighting Hawks of North Dakota (3-3/0-0 Summit) turned over the ball five times during the hot streak, resulting in fast break points for the Utah Tech men.
North Dakota swung things back into their favor with a 14-2 run over three minutes to erase the deficit and take the lead 20-17. The Trailblazers kept the match close as they ended the half only down by five points, 34-29.
In the second half, the men started out good, taking the lead off a Cameron Gooden lay-up and free throw, stealing back the lead 37-36, but they went colder than the weather outside as the Fighting Hawks went on a 10-2 run followed by a dunk by B.J. Omot as they had all of the momentum in their favor.
Gooden fought hard for Utah Tech as he scored the next seven for the Trailblazers, bringing them within one basket with 11:48 left.
North Dakota would finish the game outscoring Utah Tech 19-6, while the Trailblazers would misfire on 14 of its final 16 shot attempts., dropping the game 67-52.
Utah Tech also struggled at the line, connecting on a season-low 50.0 percent (9-of-18) at the stripe. Camaron Gooden had a good game with 22 points on 8-of-13 from the floor and 5-of-6 at the foul line. Isaiah Pope, who started his first season game, added 12 points along with three steals and two assists.
North Dakota’s star of the game was Omot, who was in double figures with 16 points. UND shot an even 50.0 percent (24-of-48) for the game, including a 5-of-16 (.313) clip from beyond the arc, and hit on 14-of-15 at the foul line.
Saturday: Cal State Fullerton 60, Utah Tech 66
With less than 24 hours after a poor performance on shooting, the Utah Tech men redeemed themselves with five players in double figures and shooting over 52% from the field to beat the Titans at the neutral site of the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center by six.
The game was a contested battle as the lead changed 20 lead changes and 24 ties. The Trailblazers held the lead for most of the first half, but the Titans stormed near the intermission to take the lead 33-29 at the half.
During the beginning of the second half, Utah Tech wrestled the lead back after two Trey Edmonds free throws made it a 42-41 game with 14:28 remaining.
With three minutes left to play, Trailblazers were down 60-58 when Tanner Christensen got free down below the net and tied up the game.
Then Isaiah Pope hit a jumper with 2:03 left and followed up with key free throws to extend the lead. Dancell Leter would hit key free throws to finalize the score and lead the Trailblazers to a win, 66-60.
The birthday boy Leter would celebrate his special day with 11 points and five rebounds.
Christensen would lead the scorers with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. The sophomore forward also had four assists and pulled down a game and UT career-high 10 rebounds en route to his first double-double of the season.
Gooden, Pope, and Jacob Nicolds would complete the roster in double figures for scoring with a respectable 10, 12 and 11 points each.
Nicolds was a perfect 5 of 5 from beyond the arc.
After shooting a season-low the day before, the Utah Tech men shot a season-high with 23 of 44 for 52.3% and even a second half of 61.9% shooting percentage from the field (13 of 21).
Latrell Wrightsell Jr. led three Titans in double figures with a game-high 21 points.
CSUF shot 47.2 percent (25-of-53) for the game, including a 35.0 percent effort (7-of-20) from beyond the arc. The Titans also went to the line just four times (3-of-4; .750) on the day.
Next up for Utah Tech is at Utah State for its first-ever trip to Logan on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. Tip-off will be at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Thursday.
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