Men's Basketball 3/5/2014 8:09:00 PM John Potter, Media Relations Assistant

[PREVIEW] Storm rolls in to San Diego to defend PWC Tourney Championship

No. 3 seed faces three-day challenge to acquire PWC automatic bid

Tweet #DixieMBB

MEDIA INFORMATION

Date

March 6-9 | 2 p.m./5 p.m MT

Location

Golden Gymnasium - San Diego, 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

Live Stats

PacWest Tourney Page

Game Notes

Dixie State

Twitter

@DixieAthletics #DixieMBB

DIXIE STATE RED STORM

Record

21-5 / 15-5 PacWest

Ranking

RV (NABC 30th); 5th (NCAA West)

Head Coach

Jon Judkins

Career: 450-211 (20th year)

DSU Record: 166-83 (9th year)

HAWAII PACIFIC SEA WARRIORS

Record

14-12 / 9-11 PacWest

Ranking

Head Coach

Darren Vorderbrugge

Record at HPU: 62-94 (6th year)

PWC TOURNAMENT PAGE

CONFERENCE TOURNEY TIME IN SAN DIEGO: Dixie State men's basketball enters the 2014 edition of the Pacific West Conference Tournament as the third seed and will open up play Thursday against one of the four teams to hand them defeat during the regular season. Tipping at 1 p.m. Pacific from Golden Gymnasium on the campus of Point Loma Nazarene University (2 p.m. Mountain time), the Red Storm open the quarterfinal round against the Sea Warriors of Hawaii Pacific University. Dixie State enters the contest with a 21-5 overall mark and a 14-5 record in Pacific West Conference play, while HPU is 14-12 overall and 9-11 in conference action. The contest will air on the Red Storm Radio Network (SportsRadio 106.1 FM; DixieAthletics.com/Showcase) with John Potter calling the play-by-play. If successful, Friday's semifinal at 1 p.m. would pit the Storm against Dominican. With two wins, DSU would enter the tournament final at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

DSU IN THE RANKINGS: Dixie State men's basketball rose one spot to No. 5 in the West Region in the final NCAA regional rankings released Wednesday. Earlier in the week, the Red Storm returned to the "Others receiving votes" category of the NABC Division-II National Poll after its win over CBU on Saturday. With 11 national votes, the Red Storm sits unofficially at No. 30 in the country.

LAST TIME OUT – SENIOR SEND OFF WITH OT WIN OVER NO. & CBU: On Saturday night in the Burns Arena, the Dixie State men's basketball program paid tribute to five seniors playing in their last home game. In the game, it was two junior post players and a sophomore point guard that led the Red Storm to its fourth overtime win of the year, 106-100, over the seventh-ranked California Baptist Lancers in Pacific West Conference action.

Dixie State ended its regular season slate with a 21-5 overall record and a 15-5 mark in the PacWest.

Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA) and Jordan Rex (Saint George, UT/Pine View) (Saint George, UT) did a little bit of everything to each post double doubles in game for the third time this season. Robbins hit on 9-of-11 shots from the field on his way to 22 points and 10 rebounds. Rex was 6-of-8 from both the field and the charity stripe en route to a season-high 18 points and 10 rebounds.

They were not the only stars.

"I thought Mason (Sawyer) came in and gave us a big spark," head coach Jon Judkins said. "They (CBU) is a good team but our guys were up to the challenge."

Sawyer (West Jordan, UT) played 34 minutes since senior point guard Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT) got into early foul trouble and eventually fouled out with 4:39 left in regulation. More impressive than his 11 points was seven assists and his leadership on the court.

This game was a all-hands-on-deck performance, needed against the Lancers who wrapped up the PacWest regular season title almost two weeks ago.

Neither team enjoyed a double-digit lead during the game. CBU (24-2, 18-2 PacWest) used a pair of 5-0 runs to take an eight-point advantage, 31-23. Dixie State responded with a 12-3 spurt over the next three minutes. Sawyer hit a pair of jumpers, including the go-ahead bucket at the 4:15 mark. The lead seesawed multiple times until a last second lay-in from DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) (Las Vegas, NV) gave Dixie State a 46-43 halftime advantage.

The Storm opened the half outscoring the Lancers 13-8 to build their largest lead, eight points, at 59-51. CBU dialed in from long distance, especially forward Anthony Cosentino, who hit three triples in the first five minutes of the half after spending the first half in foul trouble. The forward his all five attempts from distance in the second half, his last put CBU up five with 10 minutes left on the clock.

DSU went inside over the final four minutes of regulation to spark a 10-3 run.

With 26 seconds left in regulation and the Storm leading by one, Sawyer missed a jumper that was rebounded by CBU. The Lancers pushed the ball in the front court and called for a timeout they did not have.

Dalton Groskreutz (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) (Santa Clara, UT) hit one of two technical free throws for a 90-88 lead. California Baptist went for the win with a long Ryan Berg 3-pointer. His shot missed but a high rebound was slammed home by Cosentino to tie the game.

In the extra period, the teams traded early buckets before DSU made consecutive defensive stops. The second stop was a crucial steal by Thompson that led to a fast break lay-up and a six-point lead. CBU hit more field goals in the OT period with five, but Dixie State did not miss any of their eight free throws and hit four of five shots from the field including a massive Robbins dunk.

Six DSU players finished in double figures. Thompson and Groskreutz each had 15 points while Louis Garrett (Saint George, UT/Pine View) (Saint George, UT)had 13 points.

Berg led all scorers with 25 points and Cosentino had 21 of his 23 points after halftime.

Dixie State opens play in the Pacific West Conference on Thursday at 1 p.m. Pacific (2 p.m. Mountain) in the No. 3 vs, No. 6 seed game against Hawaii Pacific. The tournament will be hosted in Golden Gymnasium on the campus of Point Loma Nazarene University.

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.

• HAWAII PACIFIC SEA WARRIORS

> Hawai'i Pacific has lost six of their last eight games to end the regular season. The Sea Warriors closed out the campaign with a 78-76 loss at Hilo on Saturday.

> The Sea Warriors were slotted in the middle of the PacWest preseason coaches vote after being picked to finish seventh. They handed Dixie State its first loss of the year, 96-77, on January 6.

> Justin Long paces HPU at 18.5 points per game. Rema Lascelles dishes out a team-high 2.2 assists per contest. Farbod Farman is tops with a 8.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game average.

> Darren Vorderbruegge is in his sixth year as HPU head coach. He previously served as the department's athletic director.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1/26/08   Dixie State 77, Hawaii Pacific 67
2/22/08   Hawaii Pacific 85, Dixie State 76
2/23/08   Dixie State 82, Hawaii Pacific 73
1/31/09   Dixie State 77, Hawaii Pacific 58
2/14/09   Dixie State 80, Hawaii Pacific 72
2/20/10   Dixie State 97, Hawaii Pacific 86
3/6/10      Dixie State 106, Hawaii Pacific 99
2/19/11   Dixie State 67, Hawaii Pacific 54
2/28/11   Hawaii Pacific 93, Dixie State 88 (2OT)
1/21/12   Dixie State 84, Hawaii Pacific 68
2/6/12      Dixie State 80, Hawaii Pacific 68
2/25/13   Dixie State 83, Hawaii Pacific 66
1/6/14      Hawaii Pacific 96, Dixie State 77

LAST TIME vs. HPU, 2014: Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA) scored 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds, but his individual effort was overshadowed by a total team effort from Hawai'i Pacific on Saturday at the Blaisdell Arena. The Sea Warriors saw all five starters score in double figures in a 96-77 Pacific West Conference win.

Dixie State suffered its first loss of the year to drop to 11-1 on the year and 5-1 in league. HPU won its sixth straight to improve to 9-2, 4-1.

The Sea Warriors dominated nearly every facet of the team's only scheduled matchup of the regular season. HPU won the tip and burst to a 14-4 lead on three lay-in from Farbod Farman and back to back 3-pointer from Justin Long and Malte Ziegenhagen.

The Red Storm burst back after a sluggish start with an 8-2 run that closed the margin to four points. Unfortunately, that would be the closest DSU got to the Sea Warriors the rest of the night, During the stretch, Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) (West Jordan, UT) nailed a triple as part of his eight first half points, Robbins nailed a jumper and Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR/Barlow) (Gresham, OR) drew a foul after making a lay-up.

HPU responded with small runs to build a 48-37 halftime lead. A 15-8 run to pen the half gave the hosts a 20-point advantage, 65-45, at the 15:36 mark. For five minutes midway during the second half, Robbins took the team on his back. Dixie State's 11-4 string saw a pair of lay-ins from Robbins and a make by Kimball Payne (Alpine, UT/Lone Peak) (Alpine, UT). HPU had answers to every Red Storm run and built a 22-point lead in the final minutes.

Long led all scorers with 26 points while Farman posted a double-double of 17 points and 16 rebounds. HPU shot 55.6 percent from the floor, including 10 3-point baskets.

Robbins added to his long resume of double-doubles with 10 rebounds and a 9-of-17 night from the field. Payne was the only other DSU player in double figures with 15 points. The Red Storm were held to 40.9 percent (27-66) shooting and were outmuscled on the glass, 49-34.

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