Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) led all scorers with 18 points as Dixie State came away with a split of two games at the 2017 CCAA/PacWest Challenge following a 69-63 triumph over UC San Diego Saturday night at Kellogg Arena.
UCSD (0-2) led 27-24 at the half and would extend to a 46-39 lead following a Christian Bayne 3-pointer with 9:39 to play. Dixie State (1-1) would dial long distance to claw back into the game as
Brandon Miller (Sandy, Utah/Brighton HS) hit consecutive treys to start a 10-0 Trailblazer run that vaulted DSU into the lead at 49-46. Simister hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 8:03 remaining, while
Quincy Mathews (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) split a pair of free throws to cap the rally.
Tied at 59-59 with a 1:09 to go after a
Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) lay-in, the DSU defense buckled down for stops on the Tritons' next two possessions, while Simister and
Kyler Nielson (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS) both hit a pair of clutch free throws on each ensuing DSU possession to spot the Trailblazers a four-point cushion at 63-59 with 44 second left.
After the Tritons cut the DSU lead in half at 63-61, Hill came back and hit 1-of-2 at the line, then forced a crucial UCSD turnover when he drew a charge in the Triton offensive end. Dixie State then connected on 5-of-6 from the line the rest of the way to close out the victory.
Simister went 5-of-10 from the field with two treys and was a perfect 6-of-6 at the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Hill added 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting with five rebounds and four assists, and Nielson chipped in 10 points.
DSU finished 22-of-47 (.468) from the floor, including 5-of-12 (.417) from beyond the arc, and outrebounded the Tritons by a 28-23 count. Dixie State also improved at the foul line from the night before as the Trailblazers hit on 20-of-30 (.667) at the stripe, including 16-of-23 (.696) in the second half.Â
Three Tritons also scored in double figures, led by guard Christian Oshita with a team-high 12 points. UCSD shot 40.4 percent (23-of-57) from the floor and connected on 9-of-25 (.450) from the perimeter.
The Trailblazers will conclude their three-game, season-opening SoCal road trip with a non-conference tilt at CCAA member Cal State LA this Monday, Nov. 13, at 5 p.m. (PT).
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