Kyler Nielson (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS) led six Trailblazers in double figures with 18 points as Dixie State opened its final road trip of the 2016-17 regular season with a convincing 98-65 victory at Hawai'i Hilo Thursday night in the Civic Auditorium.

Dixie State (17-6/14-3 PacWest) used an early 17-5 run to turn a 9-7 lead into a 26-12 advantage after a Dub Price (Draper, Utah/Alta HS) lay-in with 11:29 to play in the first half. The Vulcans (8-15/6-11 PacWest) managed to pull to within seven on a couple of occasions, but the Trailblazers would enjoy a 47-37 lead at the intermission following a Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) 3-pointer on DSU's final possession of the frame.

The Trailblazers came out hot to begin the second half as DSU opened the stanza with a 14-3 run to extend to a 61-40 lead with 15:28 remaining. Marcus Bradley (Anaheim, Calif./Corona del Mar HS) accounted six of those points, while Zach Hunter and Nielson each nailed 3-pointers as part of the rally.

Leading 76-55 midway through the frame, DSU's defense locked the Vulcans down as the Trailblazers held UHH to just one field goal and 10 total points over the final nine-plus minutes of play to coast to the victory.

"It's tough to play here [at Hilo], especially on their senior night and I thought they had a lot of energy early, but we matched it and I was really happy with our effort tonight," DSU Head Coach Jon Judkins said. "This was a good win. We challenged our players coming in that this is a three-game tournament, we won the first one and now we move on to the second round at BYU-Hawaii on Saturday."

Nielson enjoyed a perfect shooting night as he finished 6-for-6 from the floor with a career-high four 3-pointers, while Bradley scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half. Hill and Quincy Mathews (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) poured in 13 points apiece, with Mathews collecting his third double-double of the year with 10 rebounds off the bench, and Brandon Simister (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS) and Hunter each tallied 10 points.

Thursday's win also marked the first time in nearly three full seasons that DSU had at least six players score in double figures, with the last time coming in the 2013-14 regular season finale vs. California Baptist (3/1/14), which resulted in a 106-100 DSU overtime victory. In addition, every Trailblazer that played on the night etched their name in the scoring column.

Dixie State shot a blistering 55.4 percent (36-of-65) from the floor, which included a season-high nine 3-pointers (9-of-17; .529), and went 17-of-26 (.654) from the line. DSU also outrebounded the Vulcans 45-29, led by Price who pulled down a career-high 11 boards.

DSU held UHH to 19-of-55 from the floor (.345), 7-of-22 (.318) in the second half, and forced 18 Vulcan turnovers. Parker Farris led three Vulcans in double figures with a game-high 19 points.

Dixie State continues its Hawaiian road swing in Laie on Saturday night with its final game ever vs. BYU-Hawaii, which is discontinuing its intercollegiate athletics program at end of the 2017 competition year. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. (HT), in the Cannon Activities Center.