Dixie State could not cool down a hot-shooting Seattle Pacific club as the Storm came up on the wrong end an 80-74 result in the final game of the 2015 Dixie Classic Saturday night in the Burns Arena. The loss evened the Storm's early season record at 1-1, while the Hawks improved to 1-1.

Dixie State came out of the gate hot as sophomore guard Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) opened the game with two quick 3-pointers to help the Storm take an early 9-4 lead. However SPU was just as hot as the Hawks hit eight of their first 12 shots with 3 treys of their own, including a pair from Brendan Carroll, to erase the early deficit and take a 20-15 lead.

Leading 23-22 midway through the period, the Hawks would outscore the Storm 25-9 over the final 10 minutes of the half, fueled by five SPU treys – three from Carroll, to take a 48-31 lead at the intermission. The halftime break did not cool down the Hawks as Carroll scored 12 of the Hawks' first 15 points of the stanza, including his eighth trey of the game, which gave SPU its largest lead of the game at 63-41 with 13:15 to play.

That Carroll 3-pointer seemed to serve as a wake-up call for Dixie State as the Storm put together a furious rally, which started with a 17-4 run over the next five-plus minutes, including six-straight points from Hill, to cut the SPU lead to single digits at 67-58 with 7:58 remaining. DSU kept its momentum through the media timeout, outscoring SPU 7-3 to pull within five points at 70-65 after a pair of Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) free throws with just under five minutes to play.

However Carroll was not done as he hit another 3-pointer on the Hawks' next possession to quiet the home crowd and push the SPU lead back to eight at 73-65 with 4:08 to go.

Dixie State mounted one final charge as senior Mark Ogden Jr. (Spring Valley, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) brought the Burns Arena crowd back into the game with a follow-up dunk to pull the Storm to within four points at 73-69 with 2:05 left. But that would be as close as DSU would get as SPU hit 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch, while the Storm missed three crucial fouls shots and managed only five points the rest of the way as the rally came up just short.

"This game felt like a [NCAA] tournament game, especially that last 10 minutes," DSU Head Coach Jon Judkins said. "I was very happy with the effort. I just thought we dug a hole too deep to get out of. We got that close and could not get over that hump. I was proud of how hard we played in the second half."

Hill led four Storm players in double figures with a career-high 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting, while Ogden Jr. added 15 with a game-high eight rebounds. Senior Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan HS) chipped in 11 points to go with four assists, and junior Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS) finished with 10 points and four boards before fouling out.

DSU shot 46.2% in the second half to finish the game at 42.6% (23-of-54) and outrebounded the Hawks 33-31. DSU's defense also forced 12 of SPU's 15 turnovers in the second half, but the Storm could not overcome the Hawks' sharp-shooting as Seattle Pacific hit on 24-of-47 (.511) from the floor overall, including a 14-of-27 (.519) from beyond the arc. Carroll finished with a game-high 30 points on 9-of-12 from the perimeter and Bryce Leavitt fell two rebounds shy of a triple-double with 14 points, 12 assists and eight boards.

In the other game on Saturday, Concordia (CA) defeated Concordia (OR) 68-60 as the PacWest member Eagles went 2-0 on the weekend.

Dixie State will hit the road for the first time in 2015-16 next weekend as the Storm will play in the 2015 Sonoma State/Ron Logsdon Basketball Classic. DSU will open the tourney vs. the host Seawolves on Friday, Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m. (PT), followed by a date vs. San Francisco State on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 5:30 p.m (PT). Both games will be played in the Wolves Den on the SSU campus in Rohnert Park, Calif.