[PREVIEW] Storm battle Swords for conference seeding

Dixie State seeks season sweep of CHaminade on Saturday night

MEDIA INFORMATION
Date	Sat., Feb. 15 \| 7:30 p.m. PT MT
Location	Burns Arena - St. George, UT
Tickets	Purchase Tickets
Radio	ESPN SportsRadio 106.1 FM \| Dixie State All-Access
Radio Talent	John Potter (play-by-play) Devin Dixon (analysis)
DSU Audio/ Video	Dixie State All-Access
DSU Live Stats	DSU Live Stats
Game Notes	Dixie State
Twitter	@DixieAthletics #DixieMBB
DIXIE STATE RED STORM
Record	18-4 / 12-4 PacWest
Ranking	RV (NABC)
Head Coach	Jon Judkins
	Career: 447-208 (20th year)
	DSU Record: 163-85 (9th year)
CHAMINADE SILVERSWORDS
Record	13-10 / 10-5 PacWest
Ranking	NR
Head Coach	Eric Bovaird
	Record at CHAM: 43-35 (3rd year)

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS: Dixie State puts its three-game winning streak and current position in the Pacific West Conference on the line when it faces Chaminade on Saturday, Feb, 15. Tip off at the Burns Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. A victory against the Silverswords would give the Red Storm a season sweep over the school from Honolulu and widen the gap between the second and fourth place teams in the league. Dixie State (18-4/12-4 PacWest) blew past Hawaii Hilo on Thursday, 97-69, behind quality nights from Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan), Jordan Rex (Saint George, UT/Pine View) and Curtis Papenfuss (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas). Chaminade (13-10/10-5) has lost two straight and four of the last five, including a slim loss at California Baptist, 91-84. Satuday's contest will air on the Red Storm Radio Network (SportsRadio 106.1 FM; DixieAthletics.com/Showcase) with John Potter and Devin Dixon calling the action. CEC-Television broadcasts, with Parker Cracroft and Kendall Prescott, are live on Baja Channel 22. Links for live stats and online video are available on DixieAthletics.com.

STORM RECEIVING VOTES: Dixie State moved up to No. 31 in the latest NABC Division II poll released Tuesday. There are five West Region teams in the Top 25 - Cal Baptist, CSU San Bernardino, Seattle Pacific, Cal Poly Pomona, Western Washington

LAST TIME OUT – REX DOMINATES BOARDS, STORM CRUISE TO WIN OVER HILO: Dixie State did not shoot lights out nor did the starting five carry the brunt of the offense.

Rather, the Red Storm produced one of their best defensive efforts in the second half, had point guard Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) (West Jordan, UT) led the way with 18 points off the bench, and saw center Jordan Rex (Saint George, UT/Pine View) (Saint George, UT) pull down a career high in rebounds to help Dixie State beat Hawaii Hilo, 97-69, on Thursday in Pacific West Conference action.

Rex had 16 boards, three offensively, to best his previous game high by five. Curtis Papenfuss (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas) (Happy Valley, OR) added his first career double double (11 points, 10 rebounds) for Dixie State (18-4/12-4 PacWest).

"The energy was much better tonight," head coach Jon Judkins said. "While watching tape of our previous game, I saw we played so bad. Tonight, we attacked their zone better and good a lot of good looks."

Dixie State used a 16-5 run midway through the first half to build a 15-point lead on the Vulcans (3-17/0-14), who did cut the lead down to 10 points at the half, 50-40. Sawyer led DSU with 11 points in the opening 20 minutes.

The Red Storm had a monstrous 57-27 rebounding advantage, including 21-4 on the offensive glass. The board battle led to a 29-5 advantage in second chance points.

Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA) had 13 of his 17 points after the break. Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT) was masterful late, ending the game with six assists and no turnovers.

Dixie State also got a boost from Louis Garrett (Saint George, UT/Pine View) (Saint George, UT) with eight bench points. DSU had 60 of its 97 points come from the reserves.

"We got guys some rest before our next game on Saturday," Judkins added.

Rex had the most minutes, 24, of any individual.

The Storm scored 36 points in the paint and made 22 of 29 free throws for the game. They shot 47.2 percent from the floor and just 7-of-20 from behind the 3-point arc.

Darnell Williams scored a game-high 20 points for Hawaii Hilo, which shot 50 percent from distance (12-24).

THE TEAM:
THE RETURNERS:
> Landon Clegg (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak), a 6-4 combo guard/forward, is back for his senior season after missing last year rehabbing a knee injury. The Cedar Hills, Utah, native was the 2007 PacWest Freshman of the Year.
> Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon), the 6-6 forward from Santa Clara, Utah, returns for his senior season after having a great junior campaign. He averaged 11.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists for the season while shooting 80-percent from the charity stripe. Groskreutz was a second-team all-PacWest honoree.
> Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR/Barlow), the 6-4 guard from Gresham, Ore., played 12 games for Dixie State last year. He averaged 1.5 points per game.
> Curtis Papenfuss (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas), a 6-8 forward from Happy Valley, Ore., appeared in 27 of the 28 DSU games last year. Papenfuss had a season-high 20 points off the bench at Azusa Pacific.
> Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak), a 6-0 senior from Alpine, Utah, is expected to be the returning starter at point guard for Dixie State. Payne ranked third in the PacWest with 5.0 assists per game.
> Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland), the 6-10 combo forward/center from Upland, Calif., was selected as the Pacific West Conference Preseason Player of the Year. He is the DSU all-time leader in rebounds and blocked shots.
> DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy), the 6-2 shooting guard from Las Vegas, expects to crack the starting lineup this year. Thompson finished last year strong to post a 9.2-point per game average.
> Braden Saunders (Morgan, UT/Morgan), the 6-3 guard from Morgan, Utah, returns to DSU after serving a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He redshirted for the Storm prior to his mission.

THE NEWCOMERS:
> Nate Ensign (American Fork, UT/American Fork), a 6-9 center, is a true freshman from American Fork, Utah. Ensign just returned from a mission.
> Louis Garrett (Saint George, UT/Pine View), the 6-6 senior forward from St. George, transferred from San Jose State. Garrett averaged 6.9 points and 2.3 rebounds in mainly a reserve role for the Spartans last year.
> Jordan Rex (Saint George, UT/Pine View), the 6-9 hometown product from St. George, will play center for the Red Storm. Last year, Rex redshirted at Weber State.
> Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan), the 5-10 sophomore guard from West Jordan, Utah, will likely start the season backing up Payne at point guard. Sawyer signed to play at Boise State after a stellar career at West Jordan HS. He transferred to Snow College before embarking on a church mission.

• CHAMINADE SILVERSWORDS

> Entering this game, the Silverswords have slipped from second to fourth place in the Pacific West losing the opening games of their current mainland road trip. Chaminade fell 83-62 on Tuesday at Point Loma and 91-84 on Thursday at California Baptist. Their only victory in the last five came eight days ago at Hilo, 86-63.

> The Swords were selected to finish fourth in the PacWest in a preseason vote, but did pick up one first-place vote from the coaches.

> Christophe Varidel, a transfer from Florida Gulf Coast, leads Chaminade in scoring at 21.8 points per game, but has not played since pouring in 19 points against Dixie State on Jan. 4. Lee Bailey, a PacWest 3rd Team member last year, is scoring at 17.7 PPG with newcomers Kuany Kuany (13.1) and Kiran Shastri (11.9) following right behind. Kuany is 2nd in the league (behind Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland)) at 8.2 rebounds per game.

> Eric Bovaird is in his third year in Honolulu after serving as an assistant coach at West Liberty University in West Virginia. The Hilltoppers are currently the third ranked team in the NABC Division II National Poll.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1/4/08      Chaminade 66, Dixie State 46
1/5/08      Chaminade 98, Dixie State 61
2/28/08   Dixie State 72, Chaminade 67
1/3/09      Dixie State 66, Chaminade 64
2/4/09      Chaminade 75, Dixie State 65
1/9/10      Dixie State 82, Chaminade 71
2/16/10   Dixie State 83, Chaminade 72
1/29/11   Dixie State 70, Chaminade 52
3/2/11      Dixie State 72, Chaminade 69
3/11/11   Dixie State 92, Chaminade 81 #
2/1/12      Dixie State 74, Chaminade 58
2/25/12   Chaminade 73, Dixie State 71
12/3/12   Dixie State 87, Chaminade 78
3/9/13      Dixie State 92, Chaminade 80 *
1/4/14      Dixie State 87, Chaminade 86

# NCAA West Regional (Ellenburg, WA)
* Pacific West Conference Tournament (Azusa, CA)

LAST TIME vs. CHAMINADE, 2014: DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV) and Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT) each had 18 points at halftime setting the scene at McCabe Gymnasium for two career-bests in scoring. The duo combined for 49 points on Saturday night as Dixie State defeated Chaminade 87-86 in a Pacific West Conference contest.

The game came down to the finale moments after the seventh-ranked Red Storm (11-0/5-0 PacWest) surrendered a 12-point lead midway through the second half. Tied at 83-83, Thompson followed two misses with a tip-in to notch his 25th point and give DSU a lead they would not relinquish. Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA) blocked a short shot effort from Kuany Kuany on the ensuing Chaminade (5-6/1-2 PacWest) possession. Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT) found Robbins for a left-handed lay-in after the point guard noticed a Silversword defender slip to the floor.

Christophe Varidel, in his first action since the Maui Invitational in November, buried a long 3-point basket to cut Dixie's lead to 87-86. Payne drew a foul on the inbound and missed the subsequent free throw to give Chaminade a last chance. The outlet pass from Kiran Shastri found Lee Bailey, but the point guard who led all scorers with 27 points, had his foot on the sideline for a turnover. DSU inbounded the ball to run out the clock.

The dramatics were not exclusive to the late part of the game. Dixie State opened on a 6-0 run – an opening Groskreutz 3-pointer, a Thompson lay-in and one Robbins free throw. Bailey responded with three consecutive triples for a 9-6 advantage. Varidel bumped the lead to 33-27 with two charity shots at the 7:02 mark.

Dixie State responded with an 11-0 spurt capped with two Groskreutz jumpers and a Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) (West Jordan, UT) 3-pointer. The Storm held off Chaminade to lead 50-46 at the break.

Groskreutz scored the opening four points for DSU after the break and the momentum pushed the Storm to a 73-61 lead after a pair of Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR/Barlow) (Gresham, OR) free throws. Chaminade fired back with a 15-2 run marred by DSU turnovers. But in the end, it was the final of Chaminade's 15 turnovers that wrapped up the Red Storm's 11th straight win.

Thompson was 11-of-17 from the floor and Groskreutz hit on 9-of-17 field goals. Robbins had 11 of his 16 points in the second half and led Dixie State with eight rebounds. Thompson tied his career-best with seven boards while Nielson ripped down six boards off the bench. Varidel (19 points) and Kuany (17 points) joined Bailey as Silverswords in double figures.

Dixie State had a 40-38 advantage on the boards and doubled up Chaminade, 44-22, in points scored in the paint.

BIRTHDAY WEEKEND: Two Dixie State players celebrate birthdays in the upcoming week. Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) turns 23 on Friday and Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) celebrates his 24th birthday on Tuesday.

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