[PREVIEW] Red Storm top seed in the PacWest Tournament

Storm open Friday at 9 p.m. MT against DOM/BYUH winner

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No. 1 seed Dixie State (20-6, 15-3 PWC) at Pacific West Conference Tournament
Game Details	Friday - Saturday, March 8-9 \| Azusa, CA \| 9 p.m./8:30 p.m. Mountain Felix Event Center
Game Coverage	TV: None \| Radio: ESPN SportsRadio 1210AM and 107.3/102.3 FM Dixie State All Access: Audio Live Video: PWC Live Video ($7.95 charge per game) Live Stats: APU Live Stats Twitter: @DixieAthletics #DixieMBB
Dixie State Links	Roster \| Schedule

DSU TOURNAMENT NOTES

TOP SEEDED STORM HEAD TO AZUSA FOR PWC TOURNEY: Dixie State University - the top seeded club after securing its second consecutive regular season title - tries to accentuate the season resume by battling for the first-ever Pacific West Conference Tournament Championship. The three-day event, hosted by Asuza Pacific, welcomes the top six teams on both the men's and women's side. The tournament champions receive the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Live audio coverage from the Felix Event Center will be available through Dixie State All Access at DixieAthletics.com/showcase with John Potter (@PotterSez) on the play-by-play.

STORM WATCH: DSU won its final two games of the regular season to claim the program's fourth consecutive Pacific West Conference title - including outright in back-to-back campaigns. The Storm enter the PacWest Tournament with a 20-6 overall record, 15-3 in the league play. Sophomore center Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) leads the Storm at 13.3 PPG and paces the club with 8.6 rebounds a game. Sophomore forward Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) and junior center Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) each follows in scoring at 12.3 points per game. Senior guard McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (11.2) rounds out a DSU quartet averaging double figures. As of Monday's national statistical report by the NCAA (March 3), the Red Storm are first in the nation (D2) in field goal percentage (52.4), 12th in assists per game with 17.4 and 13th in field-goal percentage defense at 39.7 percent. Individually, Robbins ranks 13th with a 62.2 percent field goal percentage and 28th in blocked shots. Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak), with an avearge of 4.9 assists per game, is 32nd best in the NCAA.

LAST TIME OUT: After spotting the hosts of Point Loma University a 5-0 lead, Dixie State University went on an 11-point spurt and never looked back.

The Red Storm won its fourth consecutive Pacific West Conference regular season title Saturday after defeating PLNU, 68-47, at Golden Gymnasium. The win notched DSU's fourth consecutive 20-win season and locked up the number one seed in the upcoming PacWest Conference Tournament.

Dixie State closed the regular season with a 20-6 overall record and takes the PWC crown with a 15-3 league mark. Tiebreakers pointed in the Storm's direction with season series advantages over Grand Canyon and Chaminade.

Sophomore guard DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) led all scorers with 16 points filling in the starting rotation for an injured Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon). Sophomore forward Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) notched his seventh double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Junior forward Steven Larson (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) (South Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) added 14 points, eighth rebounds and two steals.

Robbins began the initial DSU run with a lay-in at the 15:54 mark. A second short shot gave the Storm its first lead after McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) (Payson, UT/Payson) nailed a jumper. Freshman guard Brandon Simister (St. George, UT/Desert Hills) (St. George, UT/Desert Hills) capped the rally with a floater and a 3-pointer.

A lay-in at the 7:50 mark put PLNU (5-21, 2-16 PWC) within eight, 23-15. Dixie State held the Sea Lions without a bucket for the next 7:02 while opening up the game with a 16-0 run. Thompson and Larson combined for the first 12 points. Thompson nailed his two long-range makes during the string while Larson had two layups and a couple of free throws.

Dixie State led at the break, 39-17, shooting 62.5 percent from the floor and 5-of-7 from distance. Stifling DSU defense held Point Loma to 6-of-32 in the first half, including a 1-of-16 clip from arc.

The Sea Lions closed the lead to 19 on a couple of occasions, but Dixie State hit for 50 percent of their second half shots (12-24) to keep PLNU at bay. On the night, the Red Storm bested its nation-leading field goal percentage with a 27-of-48 night from the floor (56.3 percent) and hit 6-of-10 from 3-point land.

TOURNAMENT PARTICIPANTS

LOPES UP TO THE SECOND SEED: In its swan song campaign in the PacWest, Grand Canyon concluded the regular season with a 23-6 overall record and 14-4 mark in league play. GCU tied with Fresno Pacific and Chaminade for the second spot in the conference. The 23 wins in a single season were the most by an Antelope squad since the 1996-97 team also won 23 games. The Lopes strung six wins together after its home loss to DSU before dropping the regular season finale at Azusa Pacific last Saturday in overtime, 78-71. Point guard Joshua Lowery paces the Lopes at 14.3 PPG and junior center Killian Larson topped the PacWest with 8.9 rebounds per game.

SILVERSWORDS STRONG AT THIRD SEED: Chaminade lost its chance at a first-round bye in the PWC Tournament when HPU overcame a 13-point second half deficit to defeat the Silverswords, 88-82, in overtime last Saturday. The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak. Chaminade made national headlines early in the season with an upset of Texas in the Maui Invitational. Senior guard DeAndre Haskinsis is second in the PacWest at 19.1 points per game, while guard Bennie Murray follows at 17.1 per outing. Haskins also leads the team in rebounding at 7.4 per contest, good for fifth in the PacWest.

PENGUINS MARCH INTO THE FOURTH SEED: Dominican posted 12 victories in the PacWest this year, the most in the Penguins four-year stint in the Division-II ranks. Despite not having a player listed among the top 10 scorers or rebounders in the 14-team conference, Dominican has posted solid home wins against the Red Storm and BYU-Hawaii. Devin Golston and Jammal Clark lead the Penguins scoring over 12 points per game while Dominique Taplin paced all PWC qualifiers with a .875 free throw percentage. Dominican enters the tournament on a three-game win streak and has won four of their last six.

SEASIDERS A DANGEROUS FIVE SEED: After beginning the year 0-3 against teams in the top half of the GNAC – including two national powerhouses in Western Washington and Seattle Pacific – the BYU-Hawaii Seasiders have won five of their last six contests. At 15-11 overall and 12-6 in the PWC, BYUH features a good balance of explosive guard play and solid interior posts. Four players average in double figures – Junior Ale, DeAndre Medlock, Pablo Coro and Bracken Funk. The Seasiders played only 10 games away from Laie this season – posting a 4-6 mark.

HAWAI'I PACIFIC WINS ON ROAD TO TAKE SIXTH SPOT: HPU needed exact scenarios to play out last Saturday to enter the PWC Tournament. They needed Dominican to beat Academy of Art (Penguins downed ART U in overtime) and the Sea Warriors needed a road win at Chaminade. HPU needed an extra five minutes, but got the win they needed 88-82. The win snapped a four-game losing skid and sets up a rubber match with the Swords. HPU is 10-15 on the year, led in scoring by Malte Ziegenhagen (14.8) and Marko Cukic (11.2).

OUTSIDE THE TOP 25, BARELY: Two wins to close out the regular season has Dixie State just outside of the NABC Top 25 in the March 5 release. DSU still received 26 national votes for an unofficial ranking at No. 36 - four votes behind 25th-ranked Ekherd (Fla). The Storm are the fourth-highest ranked club out of the West Region - (No. 2 Western Washington, No. 3 Seattle Pacific, No. 5 Cal Poly Pomona). One season opponents is also on the list - No. 22 Fort Lewis). Grand Canyon dropped from No. 22 to the “Other Receving Votes” category after dropping their regular season finale to Azusa Pacific in overtime.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS: McKay Massey (Payson, UT/Payson) needs 228 points to pass Tom Whitehead (1,038) for 2nd on the all-time scoring list, 42 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 57 rebounds to pass Ryan Sanchez (474) for 1st on the career list. Derek Owen (St George, UT/Dixie) needs 40 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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