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Utah Tech University Athletics

Thompson wing, Robbins on the block
Stan Plewe/Utah Tech Athletics
91
Chaminade CUH-MBB 9-12/6-9
93
Winner Dixie State DX-MBB 16-6/13-3
Chaminade CUH-MBB
9-12/6-9
91
Final
93
Dixie State DX-MBB
16-6/13-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Chaminade CUH-MBB 46 45 91
Dixie State DX-MBB 47 46 93

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | John Potter, Media Relations Assistant

Dixie State earns PacWest Tournament berth, slides past Chaminade 93-91

The Storm move into first place in the league

ST. GEORGE, Utah – It was a night of firsts at the Burns Arena, and what a night it was.
 
Seniors DeQuan Thompson (Las Vegas, NV/Lake Mead Christian Academy) and Zach Robbins (Upland, CA/Upland) were joined by junior guard Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, UT/West Jordan) as the first Dixie State men's basketball trio to each score 20 or more points in a basketball game on Thursday night helping the Red Storm to a 93-91 victory over Chaminade in Pacific West Conference play.
 
In a game that saw nine ties and four different lead changes, it was strong defensive stands and clutch shots that led Dixie State (16-6, 13-3 PacWest) to its fifth consecutive victory and ninth win in its last 10 games. Coupled with BYU-Hawaii's loss at Azusa Pacific on Thursday, Dixie State finds itself atop the PacWest standings holding the current tiebreaker over the Cougars.
 
Thompson hit 6 of 14 shots, including a season-high four 3-pointers, en route to 22 points while adding five assists. Sawyer notched eight field goals, half from behind the arc, for 21 points. He also had six rebounds, six assists and four steals. After a slow first half, Robbins shot 50 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes to post 20 points.
 
Mark Ogden added 12 points and 10 rebounds for his second double double of the season. Trevor Hill (Sandy, UT/Alta), the two-time defending league Freshman of the Week, scored seven of his 11 points off the bench via the charity stripe.
 
Dixie State shot 50 percent from 3-point land and squeaked out a 40-34 advantage on the boards against one of the longest teams in the PacWest.
 
"There were some fundamentals and things we do on defense that didn't happen tonight, but I'm really happy with the last two minutes because we were playing hard. And that won us the game," DSU head coach Jon Judkins said.
 
Kuany Kuany scored 22 points to lead Chaminade (9-12, 6-9 PWC) while Kiran Shastri led the Silversword bench with 20 points. Chaminade connected on 13 of 37 shots from distance (35 percent) and had an outstanding 28-of-31 effort from the foul line.
 
Late in the game with the score tied at 84-84, Robbie Nielson (Gresham, OR/Barlow) hit a big triple over the Chaminade defense to give DSU a lead they would not relinquish. Dixie State missed some foul shots that would have iced the game away, but the Silverswords' final attempt to win from three-quarter court fell well short.
 
"I thought two guys played really hard for us tonight – Robbie (Nielson) and I thought Tony (Morris) had quality minutes when our bigs got in foul trouble early," Judkins added.
 
Thompson put Dixie State up by 11 points with 5:53 left in the first half with a vicious one-handed dunk. Chaminade responded with a 13-2 run over the next four minutes and ended the period with four consecutive free throws to slice DSU's advantage to one, 47-46 at the break.
 
Thompson and Sawyer hit back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second half to push the lead back up to seven. But, the Swords came back with three consecutive field goals to wipe away the spurt.
 
"When we got out early in the second half, I thought we would open up the game," Judkins said. "But they (Chaminade) are playing to get into the tournament and they responded to every run we put up with one of their own."
 
David Ware made his first shot of the night count, nailing a 3-pointer at the 7:17 mark of the second half to give CUH its last advantage of the night. The lead would flip-flop until Nielson's crucial triple.
 
The Red Storm was held under 50 percent shooting for the first time in five games (33-68, 48.5 percent).
 
Dixie State continues at home on Saturday night, Feb. 14, against Hawai'i Hilo at 7:30 p.m. The Storm lost to the Vulcans in overtime on Jan. 3 on the Big Island despite erasing a 20-point halftime deficit. Saturday's game will be DSU's "Play for Kay" night to support the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. Kay Yow, the former North Carolina State women's basketball head coach and member of the Naismith Hall of Fame passed away from breast cancer on January 24, 2009. Since its' inception, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund has generated $3.93 million dollars that has been allocated to women's cancer research. All fans are encouraged to wear pink to support the cause and donate to the fund at the game.

 
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