Men's Basketball 2/19/2014 5:50:00 PM John Potter, Media Relations Assistant

[PREVIEW] Back to the Bay for critical league, region games

Red Storm face Dominican on Thursday and ART on Saturday

MEDIA INFORMATION
Date	Thurs., Feb. 20 \| 8:30 p.m. MT Sat., Feb. 22 \| 4 p.m. PT MT
Location	Conlan Center - San Rafael, Calif. Main Gym - San Francisco. Calif.
Tickets	Purchase Tickets
Radio	ESPN SportsRadio 106.1 FM \| Dixie State All-Access
Radio Talent	John Potter (play-by-play)
DSU Audio	Dixie State All-Access
DOM Links	Dominican Portal
ART U Live Stats	ART U Stats \| ART U Video
Game Notes	Dixie State
Twitter	@DixieAthletics #DixieMBB
DIXIE STATE RED STORM
Record	19-4 / 13-4 PacWest
Ranking	28th (NABC)
Head Coach	Jon Judkins
	Career: 448-208 (20th year)
	DSU Record: 164-85 (9th year)
DOMINICAN PENGUINS
Record	18-7 / 12-5 PacWest
Ranking	NR
Head Coach	Booker T. Harris
	Record at DOM: 45-36 (3rd year)
ACADEMY OF ART URBAN KNIGHTS
Record	6-18 / 4-13 PacWest
Ranking	NR
Head Coach	Julius Barnes
	Record at ART U: 15-24 (2nd year)

BAY AREA SWING, TAKE TWO: Dixie State, winners of four straight and five out of the last six, make its last road trip of the regular season beginning Thursday. The first game features a chance for the Red Storm to even up the season series with Dominican University after the Penguins defeated DSU in the Burns earlier this month. A win for Dixie State (19-4/13-4) would open a two-game lead over the Penguins (18-7/12-5) for the second seed in the upcoming Pacific West Conference Tournament. Tip off from the Conlan Center is at 7:30 p.m. Pacific (8:30 p.m. Mountain). Then, Dixie State will face Academy of Art on Saturday on the campus of San Francisco State at 3 p.m. Pacific (4 p.m. Mountain). The Urban Knights (6-18/4-13) are three games out of the number six seed and needs to win every game the rest of the way to stay alive. The contests will air on the Red Storm Radio Network (SportsRadio 106.1 FM; DixieAthletics.com/Showcase) with John Potter. Links for live stats and online video are available on DixieAthletics.com.

STORM JUST OUTSIDE THE TOP 25: Dixie State moved up to No. 328 in the latest NABC Division II poll released Tuesday. The Storm is 21 voted out of the 25h spot, cureently held by Wisconsin-Parkside. There are four West Region teams in the Top 25 - Cal Baptist, Seattle Pacific, CSU San Bernardino, Cal Poly Pomona.

LAST TIME OUT – STORM ERASES 21-POINT LEAD TO BEAT CHAMINADE: No deficit seems too large for Dixie State – especially when given 30 minutes of game time in front of a home crowd.

For the second time in five days, Dixie State (19-4/13-4) staged a remarkable comeback to beat Pacific West Conference rival Chaminade, 90-77, on Saturday.

After nine minutes of action, a Red Storm win seemed unlikely. Chaminade made 12 of their first 15 shots, including seven 3-pointers to take a 35-14 lead.

"They came out on fire," head coach Jon Judkins said. "We gave them some good looks, but a couple of them we were in his face. The energy (Lee) Bailey brought allowed them to play good."

"We just kept breaking down (the game) into small battles and chipped away at the lead," he added.

Louis Garrett (Saint George, UT/Pine View) (Saint George, UT) and Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT) led the charge scoring 11 and 10 points respectively in the first half, each on 4-of-8 shooting. Payne also dished off five assists, the majority to Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA) on his 23rd birthday. Dixie State closed out the half strong and only trailed 47-40 at the break.

The Silverswords (13-11/10-6) never saw their advantage return to double figures while DSU retook the lead at the 14:04 mark on a three-point play from Robbins, who had 12 of his team-high 20 points and eight of his 15 rebounds after halftime.

Five minutes later, Dixie State strung together eight consecutive points from the charity stripe sparking a 12-0 rally that put the home team up by double figures. The Swords would cut the lead back down to eight points once, but Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT) highlighted a 5-0 answering run by DSU. Groskreutz scored all 14 of his points in the second half, a period in which Dixie State won 50-30.

"When they started defending, then we starting to get the 50/50 balls, then we started to rebound … we were getting better looks on the offensive end," Judkins added.

Payne was outstanding after an early turnover right a center court. In addition to scoring in double figures, the point guard posted 12 assists to set a career-high and notch his first Dixie State double double. Payne and Robbins became the third duo this year to each record a double double in a single game.

Garrett finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.

Dixie State closed the game shooting 45 percent from the field (32-71) while holding Chaminade to 37 percent in the second half. The Red Storm won the boards battle, 45-40, including 19 rebounds offensively.

Bailey led Chaminade with 25 points while 14 points came from both Kevin Hu and James Harper. Freshman Kuany Kuany had a four-game string scoring in double figures snapped with five points before fouling out.

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.

• DOMINICAN PENGUINS - 3rd in PacWest, 9th in West Region

> The Penguins share the longest current win streak in the Pacific West at seven games after taking two games this past week against NDNU at home and on the road at Holy Names. Dominican has already secured a spot in the PacWest Tournament and can overtake Dixie State for the second seed with a second win against the Red Storm.

> Senior forward Devin Golston paces Dominican at 15.8 points per game, but he has not played since injuring his knee at home against Holy Names on Feb. 5. Four others are currently averaging in double figures – Conner Haysbert (14.0), Dominique Taplin (13.4), Matt Hayes (12.1) and Myles Carrillo (12.0).

> Booker T. Harris is in his third year leading the Penguins. He took a 4-22 team before his arrival to a 16-10 record last year and an appearance in the PacWest Conference Tournament. Harris shared the league's Coach of the Year honor with Dixie State's Jon Judkins. Harris played college ball at the University of San Francisco and had previous coaching stints at Cal State San Bernardino, the University of San Francisco and Metro State.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1/18/10   Dixie State 74, Dominican 72
2/25/10   Dixie State 73, Dominican 64
1/20/11   Dixie State 74, Dominican 52
2/10/11   Dixie State 84, Dominican 40
1/5/12      Dominican 73, Dixie State 72 (OT)
1/13/12   Dixie State 66, Dominican 55
2/11/13   Dominican 78, Dixie State 75
2/1/14      Dominican 97, Dixie State 88

LAST TIME vs. DOMINICAN, 2014: Entering Saturday's league matchup with the Dominican University of California Penguins, the Dixie State men's basketball team hoped its stellar field goal shooting would return after four straight games collectively shooting below 50 percent.

It did to the tune of 50.8 percent (32-63) from the floor. The problem: Dominican shot better.

Devin Golston led all scorers with 25 points and point guard Myles Carrillo added 20 as the Penguins shot 56 percent overall and 54 percent from behind the 3-point arc to down the Red Storm 97-88 at the Burns Arena.

The Penguins withstood a run midway through the second half that saw DSU erase a 12-point deficit to win before a crowd of 3,484.

Missed opportunities from the free-throw line and the field failed the Red Storm down the stretch. It was the first loss for Dixie State at the Burns Arena this season (5-1).

"When you work that hard to get back into a game and you miss foul shots, not just one like two in a row, you can't win games," DSU head coach Jon Judkins said. "I thought we played hard when we were down 12, but we need that effort during the entire game."

The first half saw 10 ties and six lead changes. Dominican (15-9/9-5 PacWest) knocked down six of their 12 total 3-pointer in the opening 20 minutes. Golston did most of his damage inside with 15 first half point. Jonny Bates also hit three shots, two from distance, for 10 off the bench.

The Dixie State (15-4/9-4) bench kept the home team close. Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR/Barlow) (Gresham, OR) posted 10 points on 3-of-4 shots while Curtis Papenfuss (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas) (Happy Valley, OR) added six points and four boards.

Dominican led at the half 44-40 and used a 10-2 run the first three minutes of the second half to open a 12-point lead.

Dixie would begin erasing the advantage inside the 14-minute mark with a Louis Garrett (Saint George, UT/Pine View) (Saint George, UT) steal and reverse dunk. A Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT) floater followed consecutive 3-point shot makes by Landon Clegg (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak) (Cedar Hills, UT) and Papenfuss to cap a 12-2 Storm run. Garrett's three-point effort a minute later knotted the game at 68-68. The Penguins responded with a 5-0 run.

Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT) took control for Dixie State over a four-minute span. He scored 11 of his team-high 20 points and pulled down two rebounds to keep the Red Storm within striking distance, 84-82, at the 2:02 mark.

Garrett poked away the ball for a steal and had a one-on-one opportunity to tie the game. His lay-in shot was slightly altered and rolled out of the rim. The Penguins connected with an open shot for an 86-82 lead.

Down three with 1:06 left, Dixie State thought they forced a turnover on the Penguin baseline. A timeout had been called prior to the infraction. Out of the timeout, Matt Hayes drained a backbreaking 3-ball from the corner. The Storm would not get any closer than four points down the stretch while Dominican iced away the game with eight straight makes from the foul line.

Groskreutz was the only DSU starter in double figures. Nielson ended with a career-high 12 points, Papenfuss added 11 and Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) (West Jordan, UT) scored 10 points in 16 minutes. Dixie State bested the battle of the boards, 30-29.

Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA) saw his six-game double double streak come to an end (seven points, six rebounds). DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV) was held to a season-low six points on 1-of-4 shooting.

• ACADEMY OF ART URBAN KNIGHTS - 12th in PacWest, 8th in PWC Tournament Seeding

> The Urban Knights have split their last four games. ART U won twice at home against NDNU and Holy Names before dropping road games at NDNU and Fresno Pacific. Academy of Art needs to win all three of their remaining games, plus get some losses from Hawaii Pacific and NDNU to make the PacWest Tournament.

> Academy of Art is lead in scoring by guards Alex Carmon (17.8 PPG) and Alexis Moore (17.3 PPG). Moore and Carmon also lead the Urban Knights in rebounding per game at 7.1 and 6.3   boards respectively. ART U is 11th in the PacWest in both scoring offense (72.1 PPG) and scoring defense (77.9 PPG). They are fourth best in turnovers with 12.5 giveaways a game.

> Julius Barnes is in his second year as head coach at ART U after one year as an assistant under the previous coach. Barnes played collegiately at Stanford – he was named to the All-Pacific 10 Conference Team and Conference Male Athlete of the Year in 2003.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
12/22/08   Dixie State 78, ART U 62
1/16/10      Dixie State 69, ART U 51
2/27/10      Dixie State 88, ART U 77
1/17/11      Dixie State 78, ART U 63
2/12/11      Dixie State 99, ART U 54
1/3/12        Dixie State 85, ART U 72
2/11/12      Dixie State 83, ART U 65
2/9/13        Dixie State 82, ART U 80
1/31/14      Dixie State 86, ART U 73

LAST TIME vs. ART U, 2014: Novelist Jane Austen should have been the honorary poet laureate for Thursday's Pacific West Conference game at the Burns Arena. She was once quoted, "There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort".

Dixie State remained unbeaten at home this season using a stifling first half defensive effort to open a big lead and hold off Academy of Art, 86-73. The fifth Burns win in front of 2,641 fans improved the 20th ranked Red Storm to 15-3 on the season and 9-3 within the PacWest.

DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) scored 14 of his team-high 19 points in the opening half. He netted half of DSU's six 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) extended his double double streak to seven games finishing with 15 points and 15 rebounds. The big man accounted for 10 points and five boards in the opening 20 minutes and flipped the numbers in the second half (five points, 10 rebounds).

"It was a good win," DSU head coach Jon Judkins said. "I thought our zone offense was really good and scoring 16 points in the key in the opening half helped."

Dixie State and the Urban Knights (4-15/2-10 PacWest) battled back and forth in the opening nine minutes. With a slim 19-18 advantage, Dixie State went on a 11-0 run sparked by a triple from Louis Garrett (Saint George, UT/Pine View) and capped with a Robbins jumper. The Storm closed the half with six straight points to lead 44-27 at the break.

The Storm did not let up midway through the second half, extending the lead at its largest point to 28 points on a Jordan Rex (Saint George, UT/Pine View) (Saint George, UT) layup.

Thompson provided the highlight of the night under the five-minute mark. Off a Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR/Barlow) (Gresham, OR) blocked shot, Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT) took the outlet pass and floated an alley-oop towards the hoop. Thompson jumped from the opposite side of the hoop and emphatically slammed home the ball to bring the Burns Arena faithful to a frenzied uproar.

"He was up pretty high and there were guys underneath him, but you can't do pull-ups," Judkins added. "He did not complain about the call (technical for hanging on the rim) because it was the right call, but that was a great play."

The Urban Knights kept fighting with an 8-1 run over the final three minutes, but they could not get any closer.

The Red Storm also got double figure scoring from two guys off the bench. Garrett closed the game with 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Curtis Papenfuss (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas) (Happy Valley, OR) added 11 points, six boards and two assists.

DSU shot 41.9 percent from the floor (31-74) and 9-of-19 from beyond the arc to improve on its league-leading outside shooting. The Strom also won the battle of the boards by posting a season-high 57 rebounds.

ART U also had four in double figures lead by a game-high 25 points from Alex Carmon. Alexis Moore added 18.

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