[PREVIEW] First ever meeting with Hawks highlights Valentine's Day

Tobin Gym hosts the inagural meeting

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Dixie State (16-5, 11-2 PWC) at Holy Names (4-18, 1-12 PWC)
Game Details	Thursday, Feb. 14 \| Oakland, CA \| 8:30 p.m. Mountain Tobin Gym
Game Coverage	TV: None \| Radio: ESPN SportsRadio 1210AM and 107.3/102.3 FM Dixie State All Access: Audio Live Stats: None Twitter: @DixieAthletics #DSCmbb
Dixie State Links	Notes \| Roster \| Schedule
HNU Links	Notes \| Roster \| Schedule

COMING OFF A LOSS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 10 GAMES: Dixie State College visits the Hawks of Holy Names for the first time ever on Valentine's night. The Red Storm will play the Hawks (4-18, 1-12 PWC) at 8:30 p.m. Mountain inside Tobin Gym. Live audio coverage will be available through Dixie State All Access at DixieAthletics.com/Showcase.

STORM WATCH: DSC saw its nine-game win streak snapped on Monday in a Pacific West Conference loss at Dominican on Monday. The Storm are still in first place with a 11-2 league mark, 15-5 overall. Sophomore center Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) leads the Storm at 13.4 PPG and paces the PacWest with 8.7 rebounds a game. Junior forward Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) follows in scoring at 12.5 points per game. McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (12.2) and Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (10.1) follow next in scoring average. The Red Storm are first in the nation (D2) overall field goal percentage (52.2).

LAST TIME OUT:
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.

Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) goes in for a lay-in at Dominican. He led DSC with 20 points.

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.

• HOLY NAMES HAWKS

> The Hawks enter Thursday's league game as one of two teams with a single win in league play.
> Tyler Fry leads HNU at 14.5 PPG with guard Ian Collins following with 11.6 PPG. The Hawks are allowing opponents to outscore them by an average of 17 points per game this year.
> Omar Sanchez enters his third year as the Head Coach Basketball Coach for the men's program. Sanchez spent eight seasons as an assistant to former head coach and mentor Dennis Jones. Sanchez was in charge of post play, defense and strength and conditioning. In 2003-04 Sanchez played a vital role helping the Lady Hawks to a 33-4 record, a Cal Pac championship and a trip to the NAIA Div. II National Tournament where they lost in the "Sweet Sixteen". Sanchez also leads the department's Master Coaching Program, ensuring ethical coaching and leadership.

RANKED!!!: For the first time in Division-II tenure, Dixie State College men's basketball cracked the Top 25 at No. 19 in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches rankings released Tuesday.

“Getting into the top 25 in college sports is a pretty cool thing and yet, we can see as a team that there are things we can work on to improve,” junior forward Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) said. “Though it is a neat accomplishment, we hardly feel satisfied at this point. We need to continue to have a sense of urgency to improve and get better.”

Dixie State currently sits atop the standings in the Pacific West Conference with an 11-2 league mark and a 16-5 overall mark. The NABC rankings reflect games played as of Sunday, Feb. 10. In the Red Storm's case, it does not include Monday's conference loss at Dominican, 78-75.

DSC jumped up 12 spots from unofficially sitting at No. 31 last week in the “Others receiving votes” category. They were one of five teams jumping into the Top 25 after falling shy one week ago.

“It is nice that they (the coaches) see us as a good basketball team,” DSC head coach Jon Judkins said. “ I want to be ranked at the end of the year, when it counts.”

Dixie State looks to bounce back after its first loss in 10 games with two Pacific West Conference games – at Holy Names in Oakland on Thursday night and at Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday afternoon.

The next NABC poll will be released next Tuesday, Feb. 19.

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