Behind a career-high 30 points from senior forward Josh Fuller (Rexburg, Idaho/Madison HS), Dixie State held off Western Oregon in the final game of the 2016 DSU/Wingate Thanksgiving Classic, 78-73, Saturday night in the Burns Arena.

The Trailblazers (3-3) got off to a fast start, thanks to Fuller, who scored 10 of the team's first 20 points as DSU bolted out to an early 20-8 lead. However the Wolves (3-3) would respond with an 18-6 run over the next four minutes to pull even at 26-26, and ultimately outscored the Trailblazers 23-8 over a span of nearly seven minutes overall to take a 31-28 lead on a Demetrius Trammell 3-pointer with 5:51 to play until the intermission.

Dixie State managed to wrestle the lead back at 37-35 on a Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) jumper just before the halftime break and after Western Oregon tied the game on a Connor Thompson lay-in to open the second half, Dixie State rattled off a quick 10-1 run, including five points apiece from Fuller and Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS), which pushed the DSU advantage to nine at 47-38 four minutes into the stanza.

Western Oregon clawed back to make a one-possession game at 53-50, but DSU answered with eight-straight points to take its biggest lead of the second half at 61-50 with 7:12 to play. Hunter started the rally with a trey, while Fuller converted on his fourth conventional three-point play of the night, and Kyler Nielson (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS), who went 8-for-8 from the line, sank two free throws to cap the run.

DSU maintained at least a two-possession lead the rest of the way, though Western Oregon did managed to pull to within four points on a couple of occasions in the final minute, but Nielson connected on four free throws in the final 26 seconds to help salt away Dixie State's third-straight victory.

Fuller went 12-of-17 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the line in becoming the first Trailblazer in three-plus seasons overall to score at least 30 points in a game (Steven Larson [33 pts] at Notre Dame de Namur – 2/16/13). Fuller also pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to notch his second double-double of the year.

Hunter finished with a season-high 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 2-of-2 from the perimeter, to go with four rebounds, while Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) added 13 points and a career-high eight assists. Hill also dished out eight dimes to go along with five points and 10 boards, and Nielson tallied a career-best eight points – all from the foul line.

Dixie State shot a season-high 51.0 percent (25-of-49) from the floor and was 3-of-10 (.300) from the perimeter, but again the Trailblazers struggled with their free throws as DSU finished 25-of-40 (.625) from the line. Dixie State outrebounded WOU 44-31, including a 36-21 edge on the defensive glass, as the Wolves went 25-of-70 from the field (.357) on the night, including 10-of-33 from beyond the arc.

"I thought the key to the game was our defensive rebounding and we hurt them by pushing the ball [on offense]," DSU Head Coach Jon Judkins said. "We knew we could get out and run on them and that's how we got our big lead.

"We're figuring out ways to win, we're being tough with the ball, and late in the game we got the ball inside and got some good buckets and got to the foul line," Judkins added. "We just have to make foul shots when these games are close. Once we figure that out it's going to be to our betterment, but I love how hard we're playing and how we're playing together."

Ali Faruq-Bay led the Wolves with 15 points, while Tanner Omlid finished with 11 points.

Dixie State will open up its 10th season of Pacific West Conference play next Saturday, Dec. 3, when the Trailblazers play host to Concordia-Irvine. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m., inside the Burns Arena.