Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) led three Trailblazers in double figures with a game-high tying 23 points as Dixie State opened its final season of Pacific West Conference play with a 74-62 victory over Academy of Art on Saturday afternoon in the Burns Arena.
DSU (4-4/1-0 PacWest) led virtually wire-to-wire, scoring nine of the game's first 11 points, including a quick seven points from Hill, to race to an early 9-2 lead. The Trailblazers then broke the game open with a 10-0 run, which turned a seven-point game into a 33-16 bulge with six-plus minutes to go in the frame, and held a commanding 41-26 lead at the intermission.
Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) got the rally going with three points at the line, while
Tarik Cool (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS) accounted for five of the 10 points, including a big 3-pointer from the right wing.
Dixie State pushed that advantage to a game-high 18 points at 44-26 on its opening possession of the second half on a
Kyler Nielson (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS) jumper and free throw, and enjoyed a double-digit lead for most of the half. However the Urban Knights (1-7/0-2 PacWest) would slowly chip away at the deficit, eventually trimming the DSU lead down to six at 54-48 with 8:06 to go after a Kendall Brown lay-in and free throw.
The Trailblazers then responded with a decisive 11-1 spurt over the next two minutes to push the lead back to double-digits at 65-49 with 6:11 to play. Hill accounted for nine of the 11 points in the run, scoring seven points while collecting one of his game-high six assists on a
Daylor Youngblood (South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS) transition lay-up after a Hill steal to cap the rally. DSU never saw its lead dip below 10 points the rest of the way as the Trailblazers cruised to their second-straight win.
Hill scored 12 of his 23 points in the second half, with eight of those points coming at the foul line as he finished 10-of-11 at the stripe on the day. Hill also collected a game-high four steals, three rebounds and a block to go with his six dimes. Hunter added 11 points with eight rebounds and
Austin Montgomery (Lilburn, Ga./Lakeview Academy) poured in 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting off the bench.
DSU connected on 44.2 percent (23-of-52) of its shots, including 4-of-10 (.400) from the perimeter. The Trailblazers also went to the line a season-high 37 times (24-of-37; .649), thanks to 31 AAU fouls (58 combined fouls) in the game, and outrebounded the Urban Knights 45-33.
Brown led Academy of Art with 23 points on 6-of-10 shooting and Uchenna Okeneme added 10 points with four assists. AAU shot 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the floor and 60.9 percent (14-of-23) at the line.
Dixie State continues PacWest play next Saturday, Dec. 9, when the Trailblazers welcome in Azusa Pacific. Tip-off is slated for 3:30 p.m.
