Despite three players scoring in double figures, Dixie State could not overcome a late Azusa Pacific run as the Cougars outlast the Storm, 69-63, Thursday night in Azusa, Calif.

In a first half that featured five ties and five lead changes, Dixie State (5-6/2-3 PacWest) jumped out to a quick 9-4 lead thanks to four early points from junior Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS) and a 3-pointer from senior Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan HS). The Cougars (10-3/4-1 PacWest) would answer with a 10-0 run to take a five-point lead of their own at 14-9 just over six minutes in.

DSU came back with an 18-7 spurt, including five points from Fuller, four from sophomore Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS), and seven points off the Storm bench as Dixie State enjoyed its biggest lead of the game at 27-21 with 3:30 to go until intermission. The Cougars came back with eight-straight points to wrestle the lead back at 29-27 after a Bruce English trey, but sophomore Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) countered with a 3-pointer of his own and after a pair of Hill free throws the Storm escaped to the locker room with a 32-30 halftime edge. 

After an English 3-pointer to open the second stanza put APU back on top at 33-32, DSU tallied seven quick points, sparked by a conventional three-point play by Hill, to regain the lead at 39-33. Azusa Pacific would rally again, this time with a 16-3 run, including seven-straight points in one stretch, to bolt out to its biggest lead of the game at 49-42 with 11:22 to go.

Dixie State then mounted a come back of its own as the Storm outscored APU 12-5 over the next five-plus minutes to knot the score at 54 apiece with six minutes to go. However that would be as close as the Storm would get the rest of the way as Azusa Pacific scored seven-straight points as part of a decisive 15-4 run and the Cougars would never look back.

"I thought we played hard, but didn't play very smart," Head Coach Jon Judkins said. "The big thing we mention every game is the 'four Ps – play together, play hard, play fundamentally sound and play physical.' I thought out of those four we got one – we played hard. Give credit to Azusa Pacific, they're a good team. They hit some big shots late in the game and we didn't."

After struggling to find his shot over his past two outings, Hill led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor and 7-of-9 from the line. Simister added 12 points off the bench with a pair of 3-pointers and Fuller finished with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting.

Dixie State stayed in the game in the second half despite hitting on just 8-of-34 from the floor (.235) in the frame thanks to a 15-of-21 (.714) effort from the foul line. DSU finished the game shooting 30.3 percent (20-of-66), including a 4-of-13 (.308) from the perimeter.

On the flipside, Azusa Pacific shot better than 58 percent (14-of-24) in the second half to finish at 47.3 percent for the game (26-of-55). The Cougars also connected on 10 of its 22 3-point shots (.455) overall, including a game-high five treys from English, who led three Cougar players in double figures with 19 points.

Dixie State wraps up its brief two-game southern California trip this Saturday night as the Storm face conference newcomer #20 Concordia at 7:30 p.m. (PT), in Irvine.