Men's Basketball 12/14/2013 6:46:00 PM John Potter, Media Relations Assistant

Storm comes back from 17 down to win at home

DSU still unbeaten after 84-82 win against Point Loma

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ST. GEORGE, Utah – Down by 15 points at the break and trailing by as many as 17 points early in the second half, the eighth ranked Dixie State men's basketball team staged a monumental comeback to edge visiting Point Loma, 84-82, in Pacific West Conference action inside the Burns Arena.

The Red Storm bounced back from an abysmal 29.6 percent shooting effort in the first half to post an 18-of-30 effort in the final 20 minutes to improve to 7-0 overall and 3-0 within the PacWest. Point Loma, despite shooting an impressive 56.4 percent from the floor, fell to 6-4 on the year and 1-3 in league games.

PLNU hit six of the first nine shots they took from distance in the first half to take a double-digit lead at the 7:48 mark. The double-figure advantage held into the last minute before DSU tried a push. DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV) hit a pair of charity shots to post 13 points in the opening half and cut the Sea Lions' lead to 10. Point Loma responded with a lay-up and a 3-pointer to tally a 43-28 halftime edge.

The lead swelled to 17 on a Junior Morgan shot on the first possession of the second half.

Dixie State then chipped away winning what head coach Jon Judkins calls the "four-minute battles", meaning the play between media timeouts. The first battle opened with a 5-0 DSU run on one of two Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT) 3-pointers in the game and a driving lay-in by Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT). With 15:22 left in regulation, the Storm had shaved seven points off the lead.

DSU closed within five, 50-45, on another Payne scoop shot, but PLNU responded with five consecutive points to regain a 10-point lead. The Red Storm countered with a 5-0 spurt. Groskreutz nailed a triple and Landon Clegg (Cedar Hills, UT) netted a jumper. With 11:37 left in regulation, the Storm clipped another point off the lead.

Clegg hit a corner 3-ball to narrow the gap to four. With 7:29 left in regulation, Payne's only connection from distance put the Storm within two, 62-60.

Two free throws by Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR) officially erased the Sea Lion halftime advantage right out of the under-eight minute media timeout and Nielson's baseline jumper gave DSU its first advantage since 2-0. Dixie State pushed the lead to four before a PLNU triple made it a 72-71 Stortm lead at the finale media timeout.

Jordan Rex (Saint George, UT) completed a three-point play to build the lead to five before PLNU took their last lead with a 4-0 spurt.

Groskreutz hit one of two free throws, snapping a string of 27 consecutive makes from the stripe, to knot the game at 79-79 in the final minute. Off a DSU miss, Zach Robbins (Upland, CA) corralled an offensive rebound and was fouled. He calmly made both free throws. PLNU committed a costly turnover on the next possession at the baseline. Groskreutz was tripped up and fouled driving to the lane on the subsequent possesion; he made both charity shots.

Marek Klassen banked a 3-pointer with five ticks left, trimming the DSU lead to one, 83-82. Robbins was fouled immediately on the inbounds and made one of two shots. A last three-quarter court heave from Klassen fell short for PLNU.

Payne posted a career-high 17 points, 15 in the second half, on 7-of-11 shooting and Thompson matched him on the scoresheet woth 17 points. Groskreutz and Robbins each added 15. Rex led DSU with seven rebounds.

PLNU had four in double-figures with Klassen leading the way with 18 points.

The Red Storm were out-rebounded, 32-26, but capitalized on 18 Sea Lion turnovers, converting the miscues into 24 points. PLNU bested the battle inside the paint, 38-24.

Dixie State returns to action Wednesday and Thursday hosting the second-annual Las Vegas Challenge at The Orleans Arena. The two-day tournament feature a pair of non-conference, West region matchups: Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. MT against Cal State Dominguez Hills and Thursday at 7:30 p.m. MT against Montana State-Billings. Full tournament information can be found on the men and women's schedule pages on DixieAthletics.com.

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