(HIGHLIGHTS - YOUTUBE)
(DIXIE STATE POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE - YOUTUBE)

Dixie State mounted a furious second half comeback, but a Point Loma Nazarene put back with 0.4 seconds left dashed any hopes of a Trailblazer victory as the No. 3 seeded Trailblazers dropped a 71-69 decision to the No. 6 seed Sea Lions in the quarterfinal round of the 2017 Pacific West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Thursday at the CUI Arena. PLNU will advance to face No. 2 seed California Baptist in the tournament semifinals Friday at 2:45 p.m. (PT).

Point Loma (16-12) used a quick 8-0 run break open a back-and-forth battle and take a 23-17 lead midway through the first half. Dixie State (19-8) stayed within striking distance, eventually pulling to within a bucket at 27-25 after a Zac Hunter (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) lay-in with 4:22 to play until the halftime break.

However the Sea Lions had other ideas as Mike Planeta hit three-straight 3-pointers in a two-minute span to stake Point Loma to its biggest lead of the half at 36-25. DSU came back with five-straight points to cut the deficit to six points, but PLNU guard Josh Rodriguez was fouled on a 3-point attempt in the closing seconds of the frame and he hit all three free throws to give the Sea Lions a 39-30 lead at the intermission.

PLNU looked as if it was going to cruise to an easy win as the Sea Lions opened the second half with an 11-2 run to bolt to a 50-32 lead with 15:48 to play. Trailing 58-38 with 13 minutes left, Trevor Hill (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) went off as the junior guard scored 11-straight DSU points to help the Trailblazers trim the deficit to 62-49 following an alley-oop jam with 8:53 to go.

After both teams traded 3-point buckets, Dixie State rattled off a 17-4 run over the next seven-plus minutes, with Kyler Nielson (Cedar City, Utah/Cedar HS) and Hunter providing the exclamation marks with back-to-back 3-pointers which helped draw the Trailblazers even at 69-69 with 29 seconds remaining.

Point Loma played for one last shot as Rodriguez drove the lane and found Skyler White, who missed his first lay-in attempt, but was able to grab his own miss and score the put back just before the final horn to lift the Sea Lions to the win.

Hill scored 15 of his team-high 17 points in the second half as he hit seven of his 14 shot attempts in the stanza, while Hunter poured in 14 points on the day, including 10 second half points on 4-of-6 shooting with two 3-pointers. Dixie State shot 41.8 percent (28-of-67) from the floor, which included a 4-of-18 clip (.222) from the perimeter.

The Trailblazers lost despite outrebounding Point Loma by a decisive 46-32 count, including a game-high eight boards from Hill and seven more from Hunter, while DSU held a 19-5 edge on the offensive glass. In addition, DSU only committed 10 turnovers in the game, only three of which came in the second half.

As been the case for most of the season, however, the foul line proved to be the nemesis once again as Dixie State went just 9-of-20 (.450) from the charity stripe, including 10 crucial misses in 16 attempts in the second half.

Rodriguez led all scorers with 22 points, 10 of which came at the foul line as he had one more free throw make than the entire DSU team, and he finished with a game-high 10 assists. Meanwhile Planeta hit four treys on the day as he tallied 14 points off the bench. PLNU went 25-of-53 (.472) from the field with 11 3-pointer (in 27 attempts, .407) and was 10-of-15 (.667) from the line.

Dixie State, which was ranked No. 7 in the West Region going into this weekend's PacWest tournament, will now wait until Sunday to learn if it will be awarded an at-large bid to the 2017 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball West Regional. The 2017 NCAA Tournament Selection Show will be broadcast live on NCAA.com this Sunday, March 5, at 8:30 p.m. (MT).