[PREVIEW] Regular season championship, No. 1 seed in PWC tourney on the line

Storm close out regular season at Point Loma

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Dixie State (19-6, 14-3 PWC) at Point Loma (5-20, 2-15 PWC)
Game Details	Saturday, March 2 \| San Diego, CA \| 5 p.m. Mountain Golden Gymnasium
Game Coverage	TV: None \| Radio: ESPN SportsRadio 1210AM and 107.3/102.3 FM Dixie State All Access: Audio Live Video: PLNU Live Video ($8 charge) Live Stats: PLNU Live Stats Twitter: @DixieAthletics #DixieMBB
Dixie State Links	Notes \| Roster \| Schedule
PLNU Links	Notes \| Roster \| Schedule

SEA LIONS STAND IN WAY OF REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP: Dixie State University is one win away from securing its fourth straight Pacific West Conference regular-season title. On Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. Pacific., the Red Storm visit Point Loma in Golden Gymnasium. Thanks to tiebreaker advantages over co-leaders Grand Canyon and Chaminade, DSU would secure the number one-seed in the PWC Tournament and the league's regular season title with its 15th conference victory. Live audio coverage will be available through Dixie State All Access at DixieAthletics.com/showcase with John Potter (@PotterSez) providing the play-by-play.

STORM WATCH: DSU split the final home weekend enduring a tough loss to BYU-Hawaii before bouncing back on Senior Night with a double-figure win over Hawai'i Pacific. The Storm enter Saturday's regular season finale with a 19-6 overall record, 14-3 in the Pacific West. Sophomore center Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) leads the Storm at 13.3 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) (12.2) and McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (11.2) follow next in scoring average. As of Monday's national statistical report by the NCAA, the Red Storm are first in the nation (D2) in field goal percentage (52.3) and 14th in assists per game with 17.4.

LAST TIME OUT: Leaving the floor at the Burns Arena for a final time with the crowd standing for a well-deserved ovation is how every senior dreams of ending his playing career. Monday night, in front of 2,730 fans, two of Dixie State's favorites capped off their journeys by scoring in double figures to lead the Red Storm to an 83-66 win over Hawai'i Pacific in Pacific West Conference play.

Senior shooting guard McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (Payson, UT/Payson) and junior center Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) each had 15 points as DSU improved to 19-6 on the season, 14-3 in the PacWest. Senior forward Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) (St George, UT/Dixie) added 10 points in his second start of the year.

DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) and Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) rounded out five DSU players in double figures.

HPU (9-15, 6-11 PWC) scored the first four points in the opening half before DSU rattled off seven straight points thanks to the seniors. Owen cashed in a shot of the glass before Massey nailed a pair of jumpers including a 3-pointer.

Tied at 14-14 at the 9:18 mark, Dixie State used a 20-5 run over seven minutes in seizing momentum. Thompson scored six of his 13 points during the string. Six shots from distance for the Sea Warriors kept them within nine points at the half, 36-27.

Long shots continued to fall for HPU I the second half, leading to a 13 for 30 night from the arc (43.3 percent). The visitors pulled within six early and trailed by nine, 68-59, at the 5:39 mark.

Dixie State pulled away with a 9-0 run over a span of 1:26 beginning with a driving lay-in from Groskreutz. The junior had four points in the string toward getting to his season average of 12 points. Owen added two free throws and Massey nailed one of his three long distance shots.

Ten different DSU players scored on the night. The Storm made 30-of-61 shots (49.2 percent) with seven makes behind the 3-point line. Dixie State dominated the boards 45-25 overall incorporating 16 offensive rebounds.

Malte Ziegenhagen led all scorers with 21 points for Hawai'i Pacific.

• POINT LOMA SEA LIONS

> The Sea Lions are 5-20, 2-15 in the PacWest after dropping five of the last six games. PLNU lost at home to Fresno Pacific 80-72 last Saturday. Their last win came on the trip to the islands, a 79-61 victory at Hawai'i Hilo.

> Point Loma has the best socring defense in the PacWest at 61.6 points per game allowed, but rank last in scoring offense at 56.0 points.

> Bill Carr is in his second year at PLNU. He has had prior head coach and assistant jobs at University of San Diego, UC San Diego and Spring Hill College (AL).

ALL TIME AGAINST PLNU: Dixie State is 1-0 in the all-time series thanks to a 68-58 win in PacWest play on Dec. 15, 2012.

JUDKINS ON PLNU: They are very physical amd like to walk the ball up the court. They run the Princeton offense - hard cuts and back doors. They shoot a lot of three's - we need to protect the perimeter and rebound on missed shots.

OUTRUNNING THE LIONS (LAST MEETING, 2012): Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) dedicated his past offseason to improving on the court and playing a more prominent role in the Dixie State system. Saturday night, the junior from South Jordan proved the efforts off the parquet have played dividends this season.

Larson scored 23 points leading the Red Storm to a 68-58 victory over Point Loma Nazarene, improving the team's record to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in Pacific West Conference play.

The stellar performance included hitting half his shots from the field (6-of-12) and knocking home 11-of-14 attempts from the free-throw line, obliterating his previous single-game totals in both statistical categories (four makes, six tries respectively).

“Steve was hungry and wanted the ball inside,” head coach Jon Judkins said. “That was our game plan tonight. Our posts could be really good if we sit down and get big.”

Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) added 12 points and nine rebounds. Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) had 10 points while Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) ripped down a career-high six rebounds.

True to the nature of Point Loma's (2-6, 0-2 PWC) scheme, the Princeton offense kept the scoring low in the first half. Larson had 11 of the Red Storm's first 19 points – scored over the first 13 minutes of the first half. Concurrently, the Sea Lions struggled from behind the arc, making just one of 16 attempts, to trail DSC 28-20 at the break.

“I thought we did a good job for about 35 minutes defending their stuff, the Princeton stuff,” Judkins said. “For about five minutes, we got lazy and stood up and they hit some open three's.”

Dixie State used an opening 13-5 run in the second half to lead by 16, 41-25. PLNU's Judd Welfringer attempted to single-handedly bring the Sea Lions back. His 20-point second half was highlighted by deep triples cutting the Dixie State lead to nine at the 13:20 mark.

Timely Larson lay-ins and 19 opportunities from the free-throw line allowed DSC to keep separation from Point Loma.

Arren Wells joined Welfringer in double figures with 10 points.

Dixie State was held below their season average from the field (22-48, 45.8 percent), but flourished from the line (22-of-28). The Storm would the battle of the boards 36-30 and outran PLNU 16-0 in the fast break.

OUT OF THE TOP 25: A loss to BYUH dropped Dixie State out of the NABC Top 25 in the Feb. 26 release. DSU still received four national votes for an unofficial ranking at No. 37. The Storm are the fifth-highest ranked club out of the West Region - (No. 3 Western Washington, No. 4 Seattle Pacific, No. 5 Cal Poly Pomona, No. 22 Grand Canyon). One season opponents is also on the list - No. 17 Fort Lewis).

ROBBINS RECORD SETTING IN FANTASTIC WEEK: For the tenth time in 16 weeks, sophomore forward/center Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) earned recognition from the Pacific West Conference for his play last Saturday against BYU-Hawaii. Robbins was named to the PWC Fantastic 15 for the sixth time late Monday.

Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (So., 6-10, 200, F/C, Upland, CA/Upland) – Dixie State – totaled 22 points, 11 rebounds, seven blocked shots, four assists and two steals in a tough 80-75 loss vs. BYU-Hawaii on Feb. 23…went 6 for 6 at the line…shot 72.7% (8 for 11) from the field…tied for eighth in the PacWest in field goal percentage for the week.

The seven blocks set a new DSU single-game record – besting Robbins' previous best of six against Fresno Pacific on Feb. 5.

Robbins currently leads the Red Storm with season averages of 13.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

Top PWC honors went to BYU-Hawaii's DeAndre Medlock for averaging 19.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 71.4% from the floor. BYUH went 2-0 for the week, including handing DSU its lone home loss of the year last Saturday.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS: McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) needs 236 points to pass Tom Whitehead (1,038) for 2nd on the all-time scoring list, 43 3-pointers to pass Tom Whitehead (145) for 1st place. Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) became the school's all-time blocks leader with seven huge swats against BYUH. He needs 67 rebounds to pass Ryan Sanchez (474) for 1st on the career list. Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) needs 49 rebounds to pass Tom Whitehead (360) for 3rd place. Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) needs 56 points to pass Ben Hartman (763) for 4th, 10 3-pointers to pass Dan Stock (71) for 6th place and 11 shots to pass Ben Hartman (72) for 5th place. Groskreutz also need nine rebounds to move into ninth place ahead of Andy Palmer (254).

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