Dixie State fell to 0-2 on the young season as the Trailblazers were defeated by Cal Poly Pomona, 82-74, in their final game of the 2016 CCAA/PacWest Challenge played Saturday in La Jolla, Calif.

As was the case in their season-opening loss a night earlier to UC San Diego, the Trailblazers (0-2) again got off to a slow start as the Broncos bolted out to an early 20-8 after the first seven minutes of play. Trailing 30-16 at the midway point of the first half, Dixie State began to chip away at the deficit, outscoring CPP 18-4 over the span of eight minutes to pull even with Broncos at 34-34 with 1:43 to go until halftime.

Cal Poly Pomona answered back with six-straight points, but a Kyler Nielson (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS) 3-pointer at the horn cut the Bronco lead in half at 40-37 as the two teams headed to the intermission.

DSU took its first lead of the night at 46-44 on a Quincy Mathews (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) lay-in and held a 48-46 advantage following a Marcus Bradley (Anaheim, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) basket at the 13:59 mark of the second half, but the Broncos took the lead back for good as CPP rattled off a 14-3 run to lead 60-51 with 10:10 to play. Dixie State pared the deficit back down to four points after a Mathews lay-up and a pair of Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) free throws made the score 62-58 with 6:43 to play, but Cal Poly Pomona managed to push the lead back up to double digits with a 9-2 spurt and hit on 9-of-12 free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) led three Trailblazers in double figures with 18 points, including a career-high tying five 3-pointers which helped keep DSU within striking distance. Mathews added a career-high 15 points and posted his second-straight double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds, while Hunter chipped in 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting.

Dixie State shot 46.9 percent (23-of-49) from the floor, including a 7-of-19 (.368) from the perimeter, and went 21-of-28 (.750) from the foul line. However the Trailblazers committed 10 of their 19 turnovers on the night in the second half, including eight miscues after taking their first lead of the game.

CPP shot 44.1 percent (26-of-59) from the field and hit 11 3-pointers in the game, while the Broncos held a slim 35-33 edge in rebounding, including a 16-10 count on the offensive glass. Jordan Ogundiran led three Broncos in double figures with a game-high 24 points.

Dixie State will head back out on road next weekend to play in the 2016 Seattle Pacific/Oak Harbor Freight Lines Classic in Seattle, Wash. DSU will open the tourney against Central Washington on Friday, Nov. 18, at 2 p.m. (PT), followed by a date vs. the host Falcons on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 3 p.m. (PT).