Penguins put deep freeze on Storm streak

Dominican downs DSC for second year in a row in San Rafael

Box Score Tweet #DSCmbb

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – For the second consecutive year, Dixie State fell short of an attempted comeback at the Conlan Center in Pacific West Conference play. Despite a third 20-point effort of the season from Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon), the Red Storm dropped a 78-75 decision Monday to the Dominican Penguins and saw its season-long nine-game win streak snapped.

The Red Storm (16-5) fell to 11-2 in league, but still holds the top spot over Grand Canyon and Chaminade. Dominican (13-9, 9-5 PWC) bounced back from a tough road loss at Azusa Pacific by shooting 54 percent from the field and 90 percent from the foul line.

Dixie State flourished from the charity stripe as well, connecting on 23-of-25 shots for a blistering 92 percent.

The beginning of the game saw the Red Storm force three steals in the first 3:53 and burst out to a 10-0 lead. A McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) 3-pointer pushed the lead to 15-2 a few minutes later. Dominican made their first run after being 13 at the 12:59 mark by outscoring the Storm 12-1 over a four-minute string.

Dixie State pushed the led back up to six, 28-22 after consecutive Massey lay-ins and two free throws from Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland).

A last run of 13-2 for the Penguins closed the half, including a 9-0 spark over the final 4:14. Dominican led 35-30 at the break.

After Groskreutz opened the second half with a jumper, Dominican extended their lead to as many as 14 points over the first eight minutes. Dixie State would take the next 11 minutes shaving to five with a minute left to play.

DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) nailed his lone triple with 38 seconds to make the score 75-71. The teams traded free throws and buckets until Dixie State forced a traveling violation, down three with 10 seconds to go. Brandon Simister (St. George, UT/Desert Hills) had an open look behind the arc, but saw the shot rattle out.

Dixie State made 24-of-53 shots (45.3 percent) and 4-of-12 from distance. Groskreutz drained seven shots from the floor and six free throws for his 20 points. Massey added 13 points and Robbins notched double figures for the seventh straight game (10 points, 7 rebounds).

Devin Golston led three Dominican players in double figures with 17 points.

The Red Storm continues its trip in Northern California on Thursday with a first-ever meeting with the Hawks of Holy Names. Tip from Oakland is 7:30 p.m. Pacific (8:30 p.m. Mountain).

Print Friendly Version