Men's Basketball 11/30/2012 9:26:00 AM John Potter, Media Relations Assistant

[PREVIEW] PacWest opener for the Red Storm

Men begin campaign for fourth straight league title

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Dixie State vs. Fort Lewis
Game Details	Saturday Dec. 1 \| St. George, UT \| 7:30 p.m. MST Burns Arena
Game Coverage	TV: CEC-TV \| Radio: ESPN SportsRadio \| 1210AM and 107.3/102.3 FM Dixie State All Access: Video and Audio Dixie State Live Stats: Live Stats Twitter: @DixieAthletics #DSCmbb
Dixie State Links	Notes \| Roster \| Schedule
UHH Links	Notes \| Roster \| Schedule

DEFENSE OF THE BANNER BEGINS: Dixie State College opens Pacific West Conference play on Saturday, December 1 against the Vulcans of Hawai'i Hilo. Tip from the Burns Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. MST. Live game coverage can be heard on SportsRadio 1210AM & 107/102 FM with John Potter, Devin Dixon and Jon Oglesby.

STORM WATCH: DSC is off to a 3-2 on the season after dropping both games last weekend in the Clarion Inn Thanksgiving Classic. The Red Strom lost its final two games of the 2011-12 regular season and are looking to avoid the first in- season three-game slide since the final games of the 2009 Hawaii trip (BYUH, Chaminade, UHH).

ALL-TIME vs. HILO: Saturday's game will mark the 12th meeting against the Vulcans. Dixie State has won eight of the previous 11 games, including the last six straight. The last loss came in Hilo on Feb. 9, 2009, in overtime (96-88).

LAST TIME OUT: There is not much the Red Storm liked after holding a 14-point lead at the 17:24 mark of the second half. Colorado Mesa began a dominating second half performance with a 23-0 run en route to a 80-61 non-conference win over Dixie State in the second day of the Clarion Inn Thanksgiving Classic.

Colton Burgon made six of his nine field goal attempts in the final 15 minutes to lead CMU (3-1) with 22 points. Jeff Hart added 20 points, 13 coming after the break.

McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (Payson, UT/Payson) led Dixie State (3-2) with 17 points. Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) posted another strong performances with 14 points.

The first half was evenly played with both teams struggling early from the floor. CMU held its largest advantage at 8-4 on a Burgon layup. The Red Storm took a six-point lead, 30-24, into break on a Brandon Simister (St. George, UT/Desert Hills) (St. George, UT/Desert Hills) three ball from the wing.

Dixie State increased the lead to 41-27 behind Massey's six points over the span of 2:36 to begin the half.

At that point, the proverbial wheels fell off. DSC went without a point for nearly eight minutes while the Mavs spurted for a run. CMU hit 14 of 19 shots to score 23 points unanswered transforming a large deficit into a nine-point lead.

Foul shooting on both sides kept DSC from answering the momentous run. Thirty combined fouls were called in the second half, 18 against the Red Storm putting Colorado Mesa in the single bonus at the 14:53 mark and the double bonus with 7:17 left in regulation. That led to 30 opportunities from the line for the host, who capitalized by making 24 free throws.

Dixie State went cold shooting just 28.6 percent in the second half.

Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) pulled down a game-best 11 rebounds for the Red Storm.

• HAWAI'I HILO VULCANS

> The Vulcans are 1-4 on the season after dropping a 67-61 decision on November 21 at home to Montana State-Billings. UH Hilo won their season opener at Western Oregon, but have lost four in a row.

> Hawai'i Hilo was selected to finish 11th in the Pacific West Conference preseason coaches poll.

> Jeff Law is in his 16th year at UHH. He has compiled a 204-171 record, claimed a league championship, produced numerous all-conference players. Law came into a program that had one winning record over the previous 12 seasons. He has coached at his alma mater SUNY-Plattsburgh, Hobart College, University of Hawai`i (assistant), Santa Monica College (assistant) and Los Angeles City College (associate head coach).

JUDKINS ON THE VULCANS: very athletic. We've got to keep them in front of us because they get most of their offense off the drive. They will zone us, so we have to be prepared to attack it. They are a good team, we know they will work hard.

NO. 400 FOR JUDKINS RECORDED IN LAST MEETING WITH UHH: Four Dixie State College starters scored in double-figures to lead the Red Storm to an 83-76 win in Pacific West Conference play at UHH Gymnasium. The road victory gave DSC head coach Jon Judkins a milestone win – number 400 in his 16-year career.

Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) and McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (Payson, UT/Payson) each had 17 points for Dixie State (13-4, 8-1 PWC). Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) (Cheney, WA/Cheney) and Landon Clegg (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak) (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak) chipped in 11 a piece. Solomon Jensen (Centerville, UT/Viewmont) (Centerville, UT/Viewmont) hit two critical jumpers late to round out the starting five's production with nine points.

Hawaii Hilo (7-11, 1-9 PWC) forward Zach Wilde posted a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The Red Storm only trailed once at the 16:43 mark of the first half and led by as seven before UH Hilo knotted the game at 31-31 with just fewer than four minutes in the first half. Aided by free throws, DSC went on a 9-2 run and ended the half ahead 42-37.

After intermission, UHH cut the Storm advantage to one in the opening two minutes. Dixie State had an answer spurred by a pair of Clegg shots followed by two Cole jumpers. Massey nailed back-to-back 3-pointers bumping the lead to 10, 71-61 at the 6:41 mark.

Hilo's last push brought them within three, but Jensen took over with a 3-ball and a long jumper. Clegg and Massey added late charity shots to pad the final cushion.

Both teams shot over 50 percent for the game with Dixie State outpacing UHH (56 to 52.4 percent). The Vulcans outrebounded DSC 26-24, but the Storm won the turnover battle by four.

FANTASTIC STORM: The Pacific West Conference released two weeks of distinctions for men's basketball games played from November 12-25. Three Dixie State players earned selections on the Fantastic 15.

For week two (Nov. 12-18), forwards Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) and Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) has stellar and record-breaking games on the road at Montana State-Billings. It is the second weekly honor for Groskreutz this year (week one) and the first for Larson.

Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Jr., 6-5, 195, F, Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) – Dixie State – scored 19 points and collected six rebounds in a 90-77 win vs. Montana State Billings on Nov. 16 – the lone game of the week for the Red Storm…shot 72.7% (8 for 11) from the floor to rank 12th in field goal percentage in the PacWest for the week.

Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (Jr., 6-8, 240, F/C, South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) – Dixie State – scored 25 points in a 90-77 win vs. Montana State Billings on Nov. 16 – the lone game of the week for the Red Storm…set a PacWest record for field goal percentage in a game by going 11 for 11 from the field…the 11 buckets in 11 attempts was the most by a single player in reaching the 100.0% shooting rate in a single game…also went 3 for 4 (75.0%) from the line.

For week three, Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) was excellent in two games over the weekend at the Clarion Inn Thanksgiving Classic in Grand Junction, Colo. The sophomore center garnered his first league distinction of the year.

Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (So., 6-10, 200, F/C, Upland, CA/Upland) – Dixie State – averaged 12.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per week despite a 0-2 week for the Red Storm…ranked second in rebounding for the week in the PacWest…tied for 13th in shooting (63.2%) in the league for the week after making 12 of 19 attempts from the field…tied for fourth in steals per game (2.5) for the week in the league.

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