[PREVIEW] Senior Night vs. Sea Warriors

HPU matchup set for Monday in the Burns

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Dixie State (18-6, 13-3 PWC) vs. Hawai'i Pacific (9-14, 6-10 PWC)
Game Details	Monday, Feb. 23 \| St. George, UT \| 7:30 p.m. Mountain Burns Arena
Game Coverage	TV: CEC-TV \| Radio: ESPN SportsRadio 1210AM and 107.3/102.3 FM Dixie State All Access: Audio and Video Live Stats: DSC Live Stats Twitter: @DixieAthletics #DixieMBB
Dixie State Links	Notes \| Roster \| Schedule
HPU Links	Notes \| Roster \| Schedule

SENIOR NIGHT - STORM TANGLES WITH THE SEA WARRIORS: Dixie State University men's basketball will pay homage to a pair of seniors playing their last game inside the confines of the Burns Arena on Monday night. McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) and Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) will lace up their sneakers for their home last game at 7:30 p.m., leading the 25th-ranked Red Storm against Hawai'i Pacific. Live audio and video coverage will be available through Dixie State All Access at DixieAthletics.com/showcase.

STORM WATCH: DSC has won 11 of its last 13 games to enter Saturday's contest with an 18-6 overall record, 13-3 in the Pacific West - tied for the top spot with Grand Canyon and Chaminade. Sophomore center Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) leads the Storm at 13.5 PPG and paces the club with 8.5 rebounds a game. Sophomore forward Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) follows in scoring at 12.3 points per game. Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (12.1) and McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (11.1) follow next in scoring average. The Red Storm are first in the nation (D2) in field goal percentage (52.4) and 14th in assists per game with 17.4.

LAST TIME OUT: In front of a record crowd at the Burns Arena, the Dixie State University men's basketball team clawed back from a 10-point second half deficit. But in the end, costly turnovers and an aggressive BYU-Hawaii attack combined to hand the Red Storm its first defeat at home.

DeAndre Medlock led all scorers with 23 points to lead the Seasiders to an 80-75 win over DSU in Pacific West Conference play.

Dixie State (18-6, 13-3 PacWest) was led by a stellar effort from Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland). The sophomore forward scored 22 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the year. Robbins also set the Red Storm single-game record with seven blocks by besting his own record set 18 days ago against Fresno Pacific.

A closely contested first half saw 10 ties and eight lead changes. DSU led by three, 14-11 on a layup by McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson). BYUH (14-10, 11-5 PWC) took their largest lead of four in the opening 20 minutes on a 3-pointer from Okesene Ale at the 8:14 mark.

The teams entered the break knotted at 40-40. Dixie State shot a blistering 65.4 percent (17-26) on the opening half, but say BYU-Hawaii hit on four shot from the arc.

The Seasiders seized momentum with the score knotted at 44-44, with a 11-1 run. BYUH pounded the ball in the paint for five lay-ins and one foul shot. Two minutes later, the Seasider lead stayed at 10 before Dixie State began the process of chipping away and bringing the lively crowd back into the game.

DSU scored six unanswered over a 2:40 stretch. Massey began with a nifty layup, DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) sank a pair of free throws and Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) cashed in a bucket off one of Robbins' four assists.

A one-handed Robbins dunk with five minutes to go electrified the crowd and pulled DSU within two, 68-66.

Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) led the final charge with four free throws and set up the Storm's final bucket by Robbins on a put back. DSU could not steal the impending inbounds with under five seconds and were forced to foul. B.J. Ford nailed two charity shots to solidify the final margin.

Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) hit 7-of-10 shots from the floor totaling 17 points on the night. DSU committed 24 turnovers accounting for 31 BYUH points.

Bracken Funk added 18 points and Pablo Coro notched 15 for BYUH.

• HAWAI'I PACIFIC SEA WARRIORS

> The Sea Warriors are in a battle for the sixth and final seed for the inagural Pacific West Conference Tournament. HPU is tied with Academy of Art with identical 6-10 league marks and a split of the head-to-head series.
> Two players average in double figures for HPU - led by tranfer guard Malte Ziegenhagen (14.7) and senior center Marko Cukic (10.8).
> Darren Vorderbrugge acts in a dual role at Hawai'i Pacific - head men's basketball coach and athletic director. After a two year hiatus from basketball to focus on leading the Athletic Department he returned to the sidelines in 2010.

ALL TIME AGAINST HPU: Dixie State has won nine of the previous 11 meetings with the Sea Warriors. Both losses in the series have come on the road (2008, 2011 in double overtime). DSU swept the season series last year with an 84-68 win in St. George and an 80-68 road triumph at the Blaidell Arena in H

ISLAND SWEEP (LAST MEETING, 2012): For the first time in program history, Dixie State College completed a four-game sweep of the Hawaiian Islands road trip. Monday night at the Blaisdell Center, Maurice Cole (Norwalk, CA/Santa Fe) led all scorers with 17 points and Dalton Groskreutz (St. George, UT/Snow Canyon) added 16 points off the bench in the Red Storm's 80-68 win over Hawaii Pacific University.

Dixie State improved to 16-4 on the year and 11-1 within the Pacific West Conference with its ninth straight win. Hawaii Pacific is now 7-12 and 2-9 in the PacWest.

An 11-0 run ending with a Groskreutz 3-pointer put DSC in front 15-4 five minutes in. The Storm increased it early lead to 15 points at 19-5 before HPU posted a run. The Sea Warriors closed within three at the 6:21 mark.

Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak), who led DSC with five rebounds, sparked a 12-0 closing run with a three-ball. Mitch Frei (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) and Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) added free throws before Frei tallied back-to-back lay-ins. Dixie State led 39-30 at the break.

The lead did not dip below 10 points over the opening 10 minutes of the second half. DSC extended its advantage to as much as 17 points.

HPU picked up the intensity, drove to the bucket and also hit key outside shots to cut the Storm's lead to seven, 71-64 with 3:24 left.

DSC closed the game hitting nine free throws and holding HPU to just four points over the same period.

LaBrent Chappell paced the Sea Warriors with 15 points, Fran Urli has 12 points and Marko Cukic finished with 10.

Dixie State connected on 25-of-48 from the field (52.1 percent) and outrebounded HPU 33 to 29.

STILL RANKED: Despite losing at Dominican, Dixie State remained in the NABC Top 25 D-II Poll at No. 25. DSU dropped six spots after a 3-1 week in the Bay Area. The Storm are the fourth ranked club out of the West Region (No. 2 WWU, No. 4 CPP, No. 5 SPU). Season opponents are also on the list (No. 17 FLC, RV GCU).

LARSON LEADS THE PAC: Dixie State junior forward/center Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) has been selected the Pacific West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week.

Larson led the Red Storm to a 2-1 week by averaging 23.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting an astonishing 79.4% from the floor.

During the three-game week that featured a loss at Dominican on Feb. 11, and victories over Holy Names and Notre Dame de Namur on Feb. 14 and 16, respectively, Larson took a combined total of 53 shots – and he missed just 10. He was 27 for 34 from the field and went 16 for 19 (84.2%) from the foul line.

It is the first Player of the Week honor in Larson's career and the fourth weekly honor this season after mentions on the Fantastic 15 in weeks 2, 6 and 7.

For the second consecutive week and fifth time this season, junior forward Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) was named to the PWC Fantastic 15.

Groskreutz led Red Storm to 2-1 week by averaging 15.3 points per game…ranked 16th in scoring for the week in the PacWest…shot 53.1% (17 for 32) from the field…also shot 84.6% (11 for 13) from the line.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS: McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) became the DSU all-time assist leader Saturday in the BYUH game. He has 241 dimes, three more than Dan Stock (238). Massey needs 251 points to pass Tom Whitehead (1,038) for 2nd on the all-time scoring list and 46 3-pointers to pass Tom Whitehead (145) for 1st place. Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) needs 77 rebounds to pass Ryan Sanchez (474) for 1st on the career list and one blocks to pass Tom Whitehead (74) for 1st place. Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) needs 46 rebounds to pass Tom Whitehead (360) for 3rd place. Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) needs 69 points to pass Ben Hartman (763) for 4th, 12 3-pointers to pass Dan Stock (71) for 6th place and 13 shots to pass Ben Hartman (72) for 5th place.

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