Red Storm holds on for 67-63 win at Colorado Mesa

Storm nearly surrenders 22-point halftime lead on the road

Box Score

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Dixie State College led 40-18 at the half and felt good about earning a victory over the host Mavericks. A potential blowout turned into a barnburner, with the Red Storm holding off a furious Mavs rally to win 67-63 in day two of the Clarion Inn Thanksgiving Classic at Brownson Arena.

DSC (3-2) won for the first time in Grand Junction over CMU (2-2) since becoming an NCAA Division II member in 2006. Led by 13 points from McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson), 12 points from Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) and 11 from Landon Clegg (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak), Dixie State shot 44.2 percent from the floor.

A night removed from the lowest shooting performance of the year, DSC stormed out of the blocks and used stellar team defense to hold the Mavs without a field goal for nearly 12 minutes to end the first half.

“They made great adjustments in the second half,” head coach Jon Judkins said. “I told our guys, 'welcome to Pac West basketball', because this is how the games on the road will be.”

The Mavericks turned the tables on DSC, cutting the lead to 10 points with 8:33 left on a Shawn King layin. CMU further sliced into the advantage, closing with 65-63 with 41 seconds left. After a bucket, CMU guard Jeff Hart was fouled. He missed a pair of charity shots with Solomon Jensen (Centerville, UT/Viewmont) pulling down the critical defensive rebound before being fouled.

Jensen nailed both free throws for a four-point advantage, ensuring the road victory.

Judkins said: “I saw the fire in their eyes when the lead was cut to two. They wanted to win.”

Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) cleaned up a game-high nine rebounds with Jensen and Clegg each ripping down six boards.

Michael Bear paced the Mavs with 19 points, King followed with 16.

Dixie State College opens Pacific West Conference play on Monday, Dec. 5 against Notre Dame de Namur at 7:30 p.m. inside the Burns Arena.

Official Basketball Box Score
Dixie State vs Colorado Mesa Univ.
11/26/11 7:45pm at Grand Junction, CO (Brownson Arena)

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VISITORS: Dixie State 3-2
                          TOT-FG 3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
10 Cole, Maurice....... * 4-7    0-0    0-1    1 1 2   3   8 2 3 0 1 23
20 Massey, McKay....... * 4-10   1-3    4-5    0 3 3   1 13 5 0 0 1 37
30 Clegg, Landon....... * 4-7    3-4    0-0    1 5 6   2 11 3 0 0 1 30
44 Jones, Griffon...... * 4-7    0-0    0-0    0 4 4   5   8 0 1 0 0 14
50 Jensen, Solomon..... * 1-8    0-3    4-4    1 5 6   3   6 0 1 0 1 24
12 Payne, Kimball......    1-2    0-0    0-0    1 0 1   2   2 0 2 0 0 15
24 Thompson, De'Quan...    0-1    0-0    0-0    0 0 0   0   0 1 0 0 0   3
32 Groskreutz, Dalton..    2-4    0-1    0-0    3 6 9   4   4 1 2 1 0 18
40 Frei, Mitch.........    0-2    0-0    0-0    0 1 1   1   0 0 0 0 0 10
52 Owen, Derek.........    3-3    0-0    6-9    1 0 1   5 12 0 0 0 0 14
54 Larson, Steven......    0-1    0-0    3-4    2 1 3   0   3 0 3 0 0 12
   Team................                            2 2
   Totals..............   23-52   4-11 17-23 10 28 38 26 67 12 12 1 4 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-26 53.8%   2nd Half: 9-26 34.6%   Game: 44.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-10 40.0%   2nd Half: 0-1   0.0%   Game: 36.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-10 80.0%   2nd Half: 9-13 69.2%   Game: 73.9%    3

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HOME TEAM: Colorado Mesa Univ. 2-2
                          TOT-FG 3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
00 Jeff Hart........... * 0-1    0-1    0-2    0 3 3   0   0 3 0 0 1 18
20 Kevin Screen........ * 1-3    0-1    0-0    0 1 1   5   2 2 0 0 0 25
21 Michael Bear........ * 6-8    1-2    6-9    1 1 2   4 19 0 0 0 1 23
32 Mike Melillo........ * 1-11   0-3    5-6    3 6 9   1   7 3 0 0 1 33
50 Chandler Burgon..... * 3-5    0-0    0-2    3 2 5   2   6 1 2 1 0 21
01 Daniel Estes........    0-2    0-1    0-0    0 0 0   0   0 1 1 0 0 16
13 Shawn King..........    7-12   1-3    1-2    0 3 3   0 16 1 3 0 0 26
22 Colton Burgon.......    3-7    0-0    4-7    2 1 3   4 10 0 2 1 0 21
33 Blake Francom.......    1-2    0-0    0-0    1 1 2   3   2 1 0 0 0   7
35 Nate Nelson.........    0-2    0-2    1-2    1 0 1   2   1 0 0 1 0 10
   Team................                         1 4 5
   Totals..............   22-53   2-13 17-30 12 22 34 21 63 12 8 3 3 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 6-22 27.3%   2nd Half: 16-31 51.6%   Game: 41.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-4   0.0%   2nd Half: 2-9 22.2%   Game: 15.4%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-14 42.9%   2nd Half: 11-16 68.8%   Game: 56.7%    4

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Officials: Mike Eckenrod, Randy Powell, Steve Sawyer
Technical fouls: Dixie State-Team. Colorado Mesa Univ.-None.
Attendance: 604
Score by Periods                1st 2nd   Total
Dixie State...................   40   27 -   67
Colorado Mesa Univ............   18   45 -   63
2011 Clarion Inn Thanksgiving Classic

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