RED STORM NOTES
TEST OF THE SWORDS: Dixie State College faces a stern, early Pacific West Conference test on Monday, Dec. 3 when they host Chaminade University. 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 4-2 on the season and 1-0 in the PacWest after defeating UH Hilo with a great second half effort. The Storm won its first two league games last year before an overtime loss at Dominican.
ALL-TIME vs. CHAMINADE: Saturday's game will mark the 13th meeting against the Vulcans. Dixie State has won eight of the previous 12 games. The Red Storm had won six consecutive meetings before losing on Senior Night 2012 to the Swords, 73-71.
LAST TIME OUT: It had been 1,001 days since Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) 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 (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) 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 (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (12) and McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (Payson, UT/Payson) (10) joined Groskreutz and Robbins in double figures. Two Storm players had career scoring nights – Brandon Simister (St. George, UT/Desert Hills) (St. George, UT/Desert Hills) with nine points and Dillon Bishoff (Monroe, UT/South Sevier) (Monroe, UT/South Sevier) with six.
C.J. Brown netted 15 points for the Vulcans (1-5, 0-1 PWC) in the losing effort.
• CHAMINADE SILVERSWORDS
> The Silverswords are 3-3 on the season after making national headlines by defeating Texas in the Maui Invitational, then falling to Illinois and North Carolina. Chaminae has not played a game since November 21.
> Chaminade was selected to finish sixth in the Pacific West Conference preseason coaches poll.
> Eric Bovaird enters his second season as Head Coach of the Chaminade Silverswords. Bovaird was a long time First Assistant at West Liberty University. In his seven years at West Liberty, the Hilltoppers had the highest winning percentage in all of NCAA Div. II Men's Basketball. Remarkably, over that seven year stretch, the Hilltoppers led the nation in scoring six of the last seven years.
JUDKINS ON THE SILVERSWORDS: They are eally good. They are very quick and love to run and gun. They beat a good Texas team and we know they will be redy to play. We have a good battle ahead of us defensively.
LAST MEETING - SWORDS SLICE DIXIE ON SENIOR NIGHT: Chaminade did not look like a team that had lost seven games in a row. Behind a career night from Rickey Clayborn and Lee Bailey's last-second lay-in, the Silverswords defeated the Pacific West Conference champs of Dixie State College 73-71 on Saturday inside the Burns Arena.
Clayborn scored 24 points and ripped down eight rebounds for Chaminade (10-13, 8-8 PWC). Bailey added 14, including a left-handed scoop shot on the Swords' final possession.
Dixie State had its 13-game winning streak snapped to drop to 20-5 on the year and 15-2 in the PacWest. McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (Payson, UT/Payson) scored all 14 of his team-high points in the second half. His last effort, a 28-foot shot with less than a second on the clock, bounced off the back iron.
The Silverswords used a 10-0 run, primarily off lay-ups, early in the first half to open a 14-9 lead and extended the advantage to as many as 13 points at the 8:03 mark using long-range shots. A short rebuttal by the Red Storm put the score in favor of Chaminade at 36-28 at the break.
Dixie State whittled away at the Swords' lead over the first 10 minutes of the second half, eventually tying the game at 54-54 with a Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) (Cheney, WA/Cheney) bucket. CUH center Matt Cousins fouled out with 7:25 remaining and a subsequent 8-0 run put Dixie State ahead 66-63 with 4:21 left.
The Swords went back to the outside shot, retying the game with three-ball. Massey countered with an outside shot at the 2:08 mark. But it would be the last points DSC scored.
Bennie Murray connected with the equalizer after Chaminade corralled two offensive rebounds after missing from three-range. DSC turned to Jones on the ensuing possession. Held up on the low block, Jones was called for a travel.
The Swords took the ball. Clayborn missed a lay-up, but got the offensive board. After a timeout, Bailey drove to the hoop and scored.
Chaminade shot 49 percent from the floor and hit eight-of-25 shot from beyond the arc. Dixie State hit 24-of-60 shots (40 percent) and shined from the free throw line (20-22, 90.9 percent).
ZACH ATTACK: Dixie State sophomore forward/center Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) named the Pacific West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week.
The conference announced the award on Monday, Dec. 3, for games played Nov. 26 – Dec. 2.
It is the first Player of the Week honor for Robbins in his career and the second consecutive week he has been highlighted by the conference (Week 3 Fantastic 15).
In the Red Storm's lone contest of the week, Robbins led Dixie State to an 82-64 victory over Hawai'i Hilo on Dec. 1 by scoring 17 points, collecting 14 rebounds and blocking a pair of shots.
He made 66.7% (6 for 9) of his attempts from the field to rank 11th in shooting for the week in the PacWest.
"He's getting better and better everyday," head coach Jon Judkins said after the Red Storm's PWC win over Hawai'i Hilo. "He plays so hard and is long long, he causes so many problems (for other teams)."
