ST. GEORGE, Utah – Dixie State out-scored No. 13 Azusa Pacific 18-12 in a high-scoring overtime period while junior guard Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) recorded his first career double double as the host Red Storm downed APU 97-91 in front of a crowd 3,781 at the Burns Arena on Saturday.
 
The win gave Dixie State (10-5, 7-2 PacWest) its third consecutive win and snapped a 14-game streak for the Cougars (15-2, 8-1 PacWest).
 
Sawyer finished with 17 points and a career-high 10 assists in the contest. Senior guard DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) went 8 of 11 from the floor to post a team-high 22 points. Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) added 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Freshman forward Zac Hunter (American Fork, UT/American Fork) tallied 13 points while Mark Ogden Jr. (Spring Valley, CA/Steele Canyon) chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds.
 
Azusa Pacific's outside shooting was a nuisance all night for DSU. The Cougars, who lead the conference in 3-point field goal makes, made 10 on the night but were limited to 29 percent for the night (10 for 34). Dixie State connected on 6 of 10 shots from distance and 30 of 57 from the field (52 percent).
 
Down by as much as nine in the opening half due to an onslaught of 3-ball from APU's Troy Leaf, DSU assembled an 18-8 scoring run mainly from the charity stripe and close shots off the glass. Thompson hit one of his three triples at the 6:06 mark to erase the Cougar lead. A free throw from Colin Woods gave Dixie State a 34-33 lead.
 
Fourteen points from the Storm over the final four minutes, including two long distance shots, put the halftime lead for the hosts at 48-43.
 
Leaf and Will Ward paired up to push APU ahead by a point at the 16:13 mark before DSU responded with a 10-2 spurt capped off by a pair of two-hand slams from Ogden that got the Burns crowd on their feet.
 
Dixie State led by as many as eight midway through the second half. However, Azusa Pacific jumpstarted a 21-10 spurt behind 11 points from Leaf and six from point guard Robert Sandoval.
 
Missed free throws down the stretch limited Dixie State's chance to win in regulation. A freebie make from Thompson with 1:01 left tied the game. The Storm threw away a chance with a turnover with 10 seconds left while a long-range miss at the buzzer by APU sent the matchup to overtime.
 
Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR/Barlow) made a layup while being fouled and Sawyer hit one of two fouls shots for a four-point lead. Two Leaf free throws sliced the lead to two, the closest APU would get.
 
Dixie State made only made two field goals in the extra period, but hit 13 of 17 free throws to ice away the game. Freshman Trevor Hill (Sandy, UT/Alta) made four critical shots and the trio of Sawyer, Ogden and Nielson hit six more collectively to prevent a Cougar comeback.
 
Leaf ended with a career-best 39 points, including seven triples, and nine rebounds. Ward added 17 off the bench and Sandoval had 15 points and four assists.
 
Dixie State will now turn their attention to No. 11 California Baptist for a Monday evening, Jan. 19, matchup at 7:30 p.m. The Lancers have won 10 straight after a 59-57 win at home over Point Loma on Saturday. CBU handed Dixie State an 88-81 loss in Riverside on Dec. 6, 2014.
 
GAME NOTES: Dixie State improved to 5-0 in the all-time NCAA series against the Cougars … The Storm evened their overtime record to 1-1 (L at UHH) … DSU sits in third place in the PacWest with the win – two games behind CBU (8-0) and one game behind APU … Dixie State is 3-1 against ranked teams this year and has at least two more games consecutively against ranked opponents.