(BOX SCORE - PDF)
Wyoming's TJ Young hit a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds to play to thwart a Dixie State's bid at a major upset as the Trailblazers fell 65-63 in their 2018-19 exhibition finale Saturday night inside the Arena-Auditorium.
Wyoming (4-9) jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead as the Trailblazers misfired on five of their first six shots. However DSU would find its range with a quick 8-2 spurt thanks two consecutive 3-pointers from
Zach Frampton and
Wade Miller, while
Cameron Chatwin connected for a jumper as Dixie State evened the game at 10-10 seven minutes in.
Hunter Thompson put the Cowboys back up 13-10 on UW's ensuing possession, but the Blazers answered with four-straight
Julien Ducree points, including a steal and breakaway jam to give Dixie State its first lead at 14-13 midway through the stanza.
Wyoming wrestled the lead back with a Jordan Naughton three-point play, but again Dixie State counter-punched with an 8-0 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 24-19 with 3:30 to play until the halftime break. Miller and
Andre Wilson both nailed 3-pointers, while Frampton got a big steal and lay-in to stake the Blazers to the five-point cushion.
Cowboys' leading scorer Justin James quickly ended the DSU run with eight-straight points of his own to put Wyoming back on top, 27-24. However Dixie State withstood the rally by hitting on 6-of-6 at the line in the closing minutes of the frame to go to the locker room tied with the Division-I Cowboys at 30-30.
Wyoming looked as if it would run away with the game to start the second half as the Cowboys scored nine-straight points and held DSU without a field goal for the first four minutes to vault to their biggest lead of the night at 39-30.
Miller stopped the Blazer drought with a trey and Wilson followed with another 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 39-36, but UW answered with a 7-2 rally to push its advantage back to 45-38.
Dixie State stayed within striking distance and would trim the deficit to 50-49 on another Miller 3-pointer before two
Dason Youngblood free throws gave the Blazers the lead back at 51-50 with 9:05 to go.
Tied at 56-56, Chatwin hit a jumper to give the Trailblazers a 58-56, but Young answered right back with a perimeter three to put the Pokes back up one. Miller then struck for his sixth 3-pointer of the night and Wilson added a pair of free throws to give DSU a 63-59 lead with 1:45 to go.
Clinging to a 63-62 lead with 12 seconds to go, the Trailblazers missed a pair of crucial free throws, which set the stage for the Cowboys as Thompson found Young, who double-clutched a shot from the right wing just out of the reach of Youngblood for the game-winning score.
"[Wyoming] is a real tough place to play, but I am very happy with how hard we battled tonight," Head Coach
Jon Judkins said. "Credit [Young] on hitting an incredible shot with a hand in his face. "We had several chances in that second half to get the lead earlier than we did but we missed opened shots."
Miller led all scorers with 18 points, with 12 of those points coming in the second half, on 6-of-13 from the perimeter, while Wilson tallied nine of his 12 points in the second half off the bench. DSU shot 34.5 percent (19-of-55) from the floor, which included a 9-of-29 (.310) effort from beyond the arc.
James and Young poured in 16 points apiece to lead Wyoming, which shot 18-of-43 (.419) from the field, 7-of-22 (.318) from the perimeter.
Dixie State will open the New Year by playing six of its next eight RMAC games on the road, beginning with a two-game trip to Colorado to face UC-Colorado Springs on Friday, Jan. 4, followed by a date at Colorado School of Mines on Saturday, Jan. 5.
Â