(BOX SCORE)

Five players scored in double figures to lead Dixie State's men's basketball team to an 82-72 home exhibition win over Arizona Christian Thursday night in the Burns Arena.

The Storm started the game on a tear as DSU netted the first nine points of the game, four of which came on consecutive dunks by senior Mark Ogden Jr. (Spring Valley, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) Dixie State extended the lead to as many as 12 points at 40-28 with 4:41 to play in the stanza, but the Firestorm closed the half on a 15-2 run to lead 43-42 at intermission. ACU hit two of its seven first-half 3-pointers in the run and held DSU to just one field goal over that stretch in taking its first lead of the game.

Arizona Christian kept the momentum going to begin the second half and pushed its lead to six at 50-44 with 17 minutes remaining. Dixie State then took the momentum back as the Storm responded with a 10-2 spurt over the next four-plus minutes to erase the deficit and reclaim the lead at 54-53. Dixie State trailed just once the rest of the way and would eventually pull away thanks to a 17-6 run, sparked by a Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan HS) 3-pointer, which ultimately secured the victory.

Ogden led all scorers with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting with six rebounds before fouling out, while Sawyer added 12 with three treys, and Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS), Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) and Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) each finished with 12 points. DSU shot an even 50.0 percent from the field (32-of-64) with four 3-pointers, but the Storm struggled at the foul line in hitting just 60.9 percent (14-of-23) of their attempts. DSU outrebounded ACU 41-32, including a 13-9 edge on the offensive glass.

"A win's a win and we're happy with that," DSU Head Coach Jon Judkins said. "I was happy with our defense in the second half and I thought at the start of the game we were very good defensively. One thing we have to understand is that when we defend, our offense goes. It was a good first win for us, we learned more today than we did in practice and we'll get better."

Bobby Gray led three Firestorm players in double figures with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting. ACU shot 42.1 percent from the floor (24-of-57), but DSU's defense held ACU to 35.5 percent shooting in the second half after the Firestorm shot 50.0 in the opening 20 minutes.

Dixie State will officially open the 2015-16 season on Nov. 13-14, when the Storm hosts the Dixie State Classic in the Burns Arena. DSU will play Concordia (Ore.) that Friday evening at 7:30 p.m., and will face Seattle Pacific on at 7:30 p.m.