Senior Mark Ogden Jr. (Spring Valley, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) led five Storm players in double figures with a game-high 24 points as Dixie State out ran Fresno Pacific, 99-88, in Head Coach Jon Judkins' 300^th-career game on the DSU bench Wednesday night in Fresno, Calif.

DSU has now won eight-straight and 12 of their last 14 games overall to move to 17-8 overall, 14-5 and in sole possession of second place in the Pacific West Conference standings with one regular season game left to play.

The Storm bolted out of the gate with 16-straight points after the Sunbirds opened the game with a 3-pointer to lead 16-3 six minutes into the game. DSU pushed the lead to as many as 14 points in the stanza, thanks in large part to Ogden Jr., who went 9-for-9 from the floor in the frame for 18 first-half points, while sophomore Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) went 4-of-5 shooting for 10 points.

However FPU stayed within striking distance as the Sunbirds hit five first-half 3-pointers, including three treys in a late rally which pulled FPU to within three late in the frame, before DSU would escape with a 43-37 lead at the intermission.

Fresno Pacific (14-12/9-10 PacWest) stole the momentum away to begin the second half as the Sunbirds opened the period with a 15-4 run to erase the deficit and take their biggest lead of the game at 52-47 with 15:46 remaining.

After a timeout, DSU would counter with five-straight points, bolstered by a Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan HS) 3-pointer, as part of a 16-2 Storm run, which was capped by a Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) trey that gave Dixie State a commanding 63-54 advantage with 10:50 to play.

FPU would again rally and got to within a point at 68-67 on a Spencer Krannitz 3-pointer with 7:39 left. However that would be as close as the Sunbirds would get as DSU methodically pushed the lead back to double-digits over the next four-plus minutes and the Storm coasted home from there for the victory.

"It was a good, gutty win," Coach Judkins said. "We knew this would be a tough game. [Fresno Pacific] was playing to get into the [PacWest] tournament and we knew they were going to play their hardest. We had to play one of our better games tonight and it was a nice win for us."

Ogden Jr. finished 11-of-15 from the floor and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to record his sixth-straight double-double and seventh in his last eight games overall. Simister tallied 21 of his 23 points in the second half on 7-of-12 shooting, while Hill added 15 points with a game-high seven assists. Sophomore Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) also had a solid night as he hit 9-of-10 from the line en route to a career-high 15 points and Sawyer chipped in 12 points with four assists.

Dixie State enjoyed one of its best shooting nights of the season as the Storm connected on 61.8 percent (34-of-55) from the floor, including a 65.5 clip (19-of-29) in the first half, thanks in part to Ogden Jr.'s efforts. DSU also hit on 7-of-16 (.438) from the perimeter and had 22 assists on its 34 made baskets. DSU enjoyed another lopsided results on the boards as the Storm outrebounded the Sunbirds 39-22.

"Good defense leads to good offense and when we started defending that's when we were at our best," Coach Judkins noted. "We knew offensively we could get some good buckets. When we start defending, we rebound and execute our offense, we're pretty tough."

FPU shot 46.0 percent (29-of-63), though the Sunbirds were just 9-of-30 (.300) from the perimeter. Krannitz led four players in double figures with 21 points.

Dixie State will look to possibly clinch a share of the PacWest title and a top-two seed and in the upcoming conference tournament this Saturday as the Storm closes the 2015-16 regular season at home against current league leader Concordia-Irvine at the Burns Arena at 7:30 p.m. Saturday's game also serves as Senior Night as seniors Mark Ogden Jr. (Spring Valley, Calif./Steele Canyon HS), Mason Sawyer (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan HS) and Robbie Nielson (Gresham, Ore./Barlow HS) will play in their final home game.