Men's Basketball 2/28/2014 4:00:00 PM John Potter, Media Relations Assistant

[PREVIEW] Senior Day Saturday

Dixie State battle regular season champs in home finale

MEDIA INFORMATION
Date	Sat., March 1 \| 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	20-5 / 14-5 PacWest
Ranking	NR; 6th West
Head Coach	Jon Judkins
	Career: 449-211 (20th year)
	DSU Record: 165-83 (9th year)
CALIFORNIA BAPTIST LANCERS
Record	24-1 / 18-1 PacWest
Ranking	7th (NABC), 3rd West
Head Coach	Rick Croy
	Record at CBU: 24-1 (1st year)

SENIOR NIGHT CLASH WITH THE LANCERS: Dixie State plays its final regular-season game on Saturday, March 1, when it hosts California Baptist. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in the Burns Arena. The Red Storm enters the contest with a 20-5 overall mark and a 14-5 record in Pacific West Conference play, while the Lancers are 24-1 overall and a PacWest best 18-1 in conference action. Five senior members of the Dixie State program will be honored in a pregame ceremony. Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak), Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon), Curtis Papenfuss (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas), Landon Clegg (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak) and Louis Garrett (Saint George, UT/Pine View) will be recognized prior to playing their final home game. The contest will air on the Red Storm Radio Network (SportsRadio 106.1 FM; DixieAthletics.com/Showcase) with John Potter and Devin Dixon. Television coverage is handled by CEC-Television on Baja channel 22 with Parker Cracroft and Kendall Prescott. Links for live stats and online audio/video are available on DixieAthletics.com.

STORM SIXTH IN THE WEST: Dixie State men's basketball slipped one spot to No. 6 in the West Region in the second NCAA regional ranking released Wednesday. The Red Storm has their regular season finale at home on Saturday against No. 3 California Baptist. Joining CBU in the Top 5 is: Cal State San Bernardino (No. 1 for the second straight week), Cal Poly Pomona, Seattle Pacific and Chico State. Ranked behind the Storm are Western Washington, Dominican, Cal State Stanislaus and San Francisco State. The NCAA will announce one more regional poll on March 5 (prior to the start of conference tournaments) and will unveil the 64-team NCAA Tournament bracket on Sunday, March 9.

LAST TIME OUT – DSU RALLIES TO BEAT ART U: For the second straight season, Dixie State had to come back from a late deficit to defeat Academy of Art in Pacific West Conference play. This year, the Red Storm outscored ART U 14-6 over the final 3:31 to win 82-80 in a game played at the Main Gym on the campus of San Francisco State. The score matched Dixie State's comeback effort against the Knights at the historic Kezar Pavilion during the 2013 season. Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT) scored a career-high 19 points for Dixie State (20-5/14-5 PacWest), while Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA) had 12 points and 13 rebounds for his 14th season double double. Dixie State spurted out to an 8-4 lead, but the efficiency of the Academy of Art (6-19/4-14) 2-3 zone coupled with three Urban Knights scoring in double figures had the home team up by as many as 14 points in the opening half. A late 7-3 run for the Storm made the halftime score 47-40, despite Academy of Art netting 60 percent of their shots. Robbins and Payne went to work in the opening minutes of the second half scoring all but two of the Storm's 14 points that brought DSU even with the Knights at 54-54. With a Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) (West Jordan, UT) 3-pointer, the Storm took a 57-56 advantage. Alexis Moore scored seven straight points to seize momentum back for the Urban Knights. Moore, a former standout at Long Beach (CA) Poly who played as a freshman for the USC Trojans, lit up the scoreboard to pace all scorers 29 points. ART U lead by four, 72-68, with 3:31 to play. Dixie State turned up the defensive intensity and made clutch offensive plays. Head coach Jon Judkins credited his team's effort in their defensive zone and rebounding as the major turning point in the second half. Robbins sparked an 8-0 run with two free throws. Payne followed with a lay-in and assisted on back-to-back buckets from DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV) for a 76-73 lead. From there, it was a battle from the charity stripe. Thompson and Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT) combined to hit six foul shots without a miss while Alex Carmon missed once for ART U to preserve the Dixie State win. The Red Storm won for the first time this year shooting less than 40 percent from the floor (27-70, 38.6 percent). After a below average 10-of-17 performance from the line in the first half, DSU connected on 14-of-15 in the second half to finish out the game at 75 percent. Dixie State bested the Knights in the rebounding department, 42-36 – which included 17 offensive boards. Thompson joined Payne and Robbins in double figures with 17 points. Jordan Rex (Saint George, UT/Pine View) (Saint George, UT) came off the bench with nine points and nine rebounds.

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.

• CALIFORNIA BAPTIST LANCERS

> California Baptist enters Saturday's matchup as the Pacific West Conference regular-season champions and winners of their last eight games. The Lancers wrapped up the title and the number-one seed in next week's PacWest Tournament on Feb. 17 with a home win against Hawaii Pacific. CBU is 24-1 on the year, ranked 3rd in the NCAA West Region and 7th in the NABC Division II national poll.

> This is CBU's second trip to the Burns Arena this season after playing two games to open up the year during the Dixie State Classic. The Lancers took down Whittier College in an exhibition before beating Colorado Mesa, 89-79, in their regular season opener.

> CBU is led in scoring by fantastic freshman guard Ryan Berg at 17.2 points per game. Anthony Cosentino (12.0) and Chris Brown (10.4) round out three Lancers averaging double figures per contest. The Lancers are the fourth highest scoring team in the conference (81.9) and are tied for league's best scoring defense at 70.0 PPG .

> Rick Croy, a 1999 graduate of San Francisco State, has impressed since being named coach at CBU on April 2, 2013. Prior to his hire, Croy was an assistant at St. Mary's under head coach Randy Bennett. Croy also took Citrus College to a California Junior College State Championship in 2008.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
2/14/12   Dixie State 85, California Baptist 59
2/28/12   Dixie State 70, California Baptist 67
1/5/13      Dixie State 69, California Baptist 57
1/19/13   Dixie State 67, California Baptist 51
1/18/14   California Baptist 100, Dixie State 90

LAST TIME vs. CBU, 2014: Dixie State surrendered 53 first half points to the host Lancers, including 27 from Ryan Berg, and fell short of a comeback falling 100-90 on Saturday night at Van Dyne Gymnasium in Pacific West Conference action.

The Red Storm (14-2/7-2 PacWest) coughed up 21 turnovers and allowed the undefeated Lancers (15-0/9-0) to connect on 14 shots from behind the arc in the victory. Berg had eight long-distance shots in the opening 20 minutes highlighted by a buzzer-beating bank shot from just inside half court to give CBU a 53-33 lead at the break.

DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV) led Dixie State with 19 points while Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA) notched another double-double – 12 points, 14 rebounds. Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT) added 14 points and five assists before fouling out. In 18 minutes off the bench, Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) (West Jordan, UT) had 13 points and three assists.

The first seven minutes of the game played even until CBU went on a 13-3 spurt. Berg had two triples and Anthony Cosentino added a long shot for nine straight points. Thompson had a jumper and Jordan Rex (Saint George, UT/Pine View) (Saint George, UT) connected on one of two free throws before the Lancers took a 26-16 lead. Leading by double figures in the final five minutes of the half, Berg drained two more triples and brought the Van Dyne faithful to a crazed frenzy with the long-range bank shot.

Dixie State cut the lead to 14 early in the second half by going inside. Thompson and Payne each had lay-ins. After CBU extended the lead to as many as 23 points, 76-53 at the 10:35 mark, the Storm battled back using a half-court trap defensively, timely outside shots and free throws. Curtis Papenfuss (Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas) (Happy Valley, OR) and Thompson each made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR/Barlow) (Gresham, OR) turned a pair of steals into a dunk and free throws to end a 28-14 spurt and cut the CBU lead to 90-81 with under three minutes. DSU cut the lead to eight twice, but could not complete the large comeback effort.

Berg led all scorers with 34 points on 10-of-13 shooting, 8-of-10 from distance. Ivan Patterson had 15 of his 23 points come from the stripe.

The Red Storm shot 45.7 percent (32-70) from the floor and won the battle of the boards, 50-36. California Baptist hit 14 total shots from behind the arc and 30-of-64 overall (46.9 percent) on the night.

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