[PREVIEW] League battle with the Lancers on Saturday

PWC competition continues in Riverside against CBU

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Dixie State (8-4, 3-1 PWC) vs. California Baptist (7-3, 1-1 PWC)
Game Details	Saturday, Jan. 5 \| Riverside, CA \| 7:30 p.m. PST (8:30 p.m. MST) Van Dyne Gym
Game Coverage	TV: None \| Radio: ESPN SportsRadio 1210AM and 107.3/102.3 FM Dixie State All Access: Audio and Video Video: Cal Baptist Video Live Stats: Cal Baptist Live Stats Twitter: @DixieAthletics #DSCmbb
Dixie State Links	Notes \| Roster \| Schedule
Pacifica Links	Notes \| Roster \| Schedule

JOUSTING WITH THE LANCERS: Dixie State College travels to Southern California for its first 2013 contest in Pacific

West Conference action against the Lancers of California Baptist. Tip from the Van Dyne Gym is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Pacific (8:30 p.m. Mountain), with live audio coverage on Dixie State All Access (DixieAthletics.com/Showcase) and ESPN Sports Radio.

STORM WATCH: DSC is 8-4 on the season after routing Pacifica on Wednesday. The Storm post a perfect 6-0 record at home, but are just 2-4 away from the Burns. In the second Wednesday game of the year - DSC evened their record on that day of the week after losing to Pitt State in the LV Challenge on Dec. 19. In the Judkins era, DSC is now 7-9 in games played on Wednesday.

LAST TIME OUT: The last time Dixie State College played then Pacifica College in 2010, records fell for the most points scored in a game.

Wednesday night in the Burns Arena against the Gladiators, a program-best seven players scored in double figures as the Red Storm posted a new single-game team high in a 125-55 rout in non-conference play.

Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) led Dixie State (8-4) with 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting and junior forward Curtis Papenfuss (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas) (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas) made the most of his time off the bench with a career night. Papenfuss went 7-of-8 from the floor and nailed both of his triple for 20 points. He also ripped down eight rebounds and dished three assists.

Dixie State opened the game against the winless Gladiators, now 0-15 on the year, on an 11-0 run. The Storm never took their foot off the accelerator in the first half hanging 74 points in the opening twenty minutes to lead by 49 at the break.

Pacifica University began firing shots from the behind the arc in the second half and hit five 3-pointers, but never closed within 48 points of the hot-shooting Red Storm. Dixie State had its best shooting night in the Burns, making 47-of-74 shots at a 63.5 percent clip. DSC played unselfish basketball dishing out 32 team assists.

DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) joined the record setting crew with 15 points with four triples. Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) bounced back with a solid 15 point, eight-rebound night. The Dixie State bigs had an all-around concrete night – Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) had 12 points and seven rebounds while Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) (St George, UT/Dixie) thrilled the crowd with a thunderous dunk en route to 10 points and eight boards. McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (Payson, UT/Payson) rounded out the septet with 11 points and five dimes.

Guard Dion Hudson with 15 points led Pacifica. The Gladiators struggled from the field shooting 27 percent.

ALL-TIME VS. CBU: The Lancers joined the PacWest last season after a storied legacy in the NAIA. Dixie State defeated CBU in both league meetings in 2012 - at home 77-59 on Valentine's Day and 70-67 on Feb. 18 in Riverside. The wins were the 10th and 11th in a string of 12 consecutive triumphs leading to a PacWest championship.

• CALIFORNIA BAPTIST LANCERS

> The Lancers dropped a see-saw overtime battle to Grand Canyon on Wednesday, 77-74. CBU evened their PWC mark to 1-1 despite a double-double from center Luke Evans.
> PWC newcomer Anthony Cosentino paces the high-paced CBU offense with 16.9 points per game. All five starters average over 10 points. Evans is one of the league's best rebounders - 7.1 boards per contest.
> Tim Collins is in his 11th year as head coach at CBU and 33rd in the collegiate ranks - including 11 years at junior colleges. He has coached over 1,000 games and won over 600.

JUDKINS ON CBU: Their bigs are talented - Evans is really good. They have a 3-4 kid that can really shoot it and from three. We know they are going to execute their stuff; it will be a challenge for our defense to defend all their plays. We haven't won on the road; we need to figure out how to win in league away from home.

COME BACK ROAD WIN (LAST MEETING, 2012): Playing 50 miles from his hometown of Norwalk, Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) put on a show in front of friends, family and teammates in Van Dyne Gymnasium. The senior guard netted a career-high 26 points and dished out six assists as Dixie State College earned a come-from-behind road win at Cal Baptist, 70-67.

The Red Storm improved to 19-4 overall and 14-1 in the Pacific West Conference. Cole led three players in double figures. McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) had 12 points and a team-high six rebounds while Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) notched 10 points off the bench.

Cal Baptist, playing in front of a rowdy Homecoming crowd, was unflappable from distance in the first half. As a team, CBU (15-6, 9-5 PWC) connected on eight-of-15 attempts from behind the arc. Alexsander Milovic had four triples and Justus Von Wright added three.

Despite the long-distance display, the Lancers only led 41-36 at the break. DSC used an 8-0 run late in the first half to cut an 11-point deficit down to three with a Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) jumper, a 3-pointer from Massey and a traditional three-point play from Cole.

After intermission, Cole scored the first six points for the Storm. Groskreutz hit a 3-pointer two possessions later for Dixie State's first lead since 18:57 mark of the first half.

Seven lead changes highlighted the second half before DSC posted an 8-0 run after the under-eight minute media timeout. Solomon Jensen (Centerville, UT/Viewmont) sparked the rally with a triple. Massey drained a baseline jumper and Cole connected from the elbow for a 64-54 lead with 4:35 left.

CBU's Kevin Deeb led the Lancer comeback with nine points on three distance shots, the last pulled the hosts within one point at 68-67 with 14 seconds.

Cole drew a foul and sank both clutch free throws. Milovic fired a final attempt that landed short and left to give the Storm the win.

Dixie State shot 60.9 percent from the floor (28-of-46). The Storm committed just nine turnovers while forcing the Lancers into 15.

LARSON, THOMPSON FANTASTIC IN VEGAS: Under the bright lights of Sin City, two Dixie State players were named to the Week Seven version of the Pacific West Conference Fantastic 15 - Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) and DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy).

Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (Jr., 6-8, 240, F/C, South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) – Dixie State – averaged 15.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in a 1-1 week for the Red Storm…shot 55.0% (11 for 20) from the field

It is the third Fantastic 15 honor for Larson and his second consecutive accolade.

De'Quan Thompson (So., 6-2, 205, G, Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) – Dixie State – averaged 12.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in a 1-1 week for the Red Storm…shot 63.6% (7 for 11) from the field and 66.7% (4 for 6) from three-point land…tied for seventh in long-distance shooting and tied for 11th in field goal percentage for the week in the PacWest…shot 77.8% (7 for 9) from the line.

Thompson earned his first weekly honor from the PacWest this season. He was a one-time Top 10 Honor Roll member in 2011-2012.
Player of the Week honors went to Ian Collins of PacWest newcomer Holy Names. Collins totaled 22 points on 9 of 14 (64.3%) shooting in a 58-57 win over William Jessup on Dec. 18 – the lone game of the week for the Hawks. He pulled down five rebounds and also made 3 of 4 (75.0%) attempts from the free throw line.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS: McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) needs 86 points to pass Ben Hartman (763) for 3rd on the all-time scoring list, six 3-pointers to pass Donovan Plunkett (89) for 3rd place, 16 assists to pass Jeremiah Barnes (215) for 3rd place and 24 to pass Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) (223) for 2nd. Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) needs six rebounds to pass Griffon Jones (Cheney, WA/Cheney) (310) for 3rd on the career list and 19 blocks to pass Tom Whitehead (74) for 1st place. Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) needs 15 rebounds to pass Ben Hartman (277) for 5th place. Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) needs 60 points to pass Jones (616) for 6th, three 3-pointers to pass Johnny Little (51) for 7th place.

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