Josh Newbold poured in a career-high 22 points off the bench to help lead Dixie State to a hard-fought 75-71 victory over Saint Martin's Saturday night inside the Burns Arena.

The Trailblazers (3-0) trailed just once at 4-2, but quickly erased that deficit with nine-straight points to vault to an early 11-4 advantage. DSU would push that lead to as many as 10 points at 22-12, but could not shake the Saints (0-2), who eventually trimmed the deficit to 33-31 after a Marky Adams bucket with 2:24 to go until halftime.

However Dixie State would answer with a 7-0 spurt, which started with a Newbold mid-range jumper. Then after a defensive stop on the Saints' next possession, Hunter Schofield hit a jump shot and Frank Staine knocked down a 3-pointer as DSU took a 40-33 lead into the locker room.

The Blazers picked up right where they left off to begin the second half, scoring the first six points of the stanza to extend that run to 13-2 and open up their biggest lead of the game at 46-33 after a Staine lay-in with 17:29 to go.

Dixie State led by as many as 15 points after Newbold was drew a flagrant foul, hit both free throws, and hit another jumper, which gave his side a 55-40 cushion with just over 13 minutes remaining.

Saint Martin's stayed within striking distance, thanks to the hot shooting hand of Demonte Malloy, who scored 15 of his game-high 26 points after halftime. However DSU managed to maintain at least a two-possession lead the rest of the way, though the Saints made it things interesting in the closing seconds, but the Blazers were able to withstand a late SMU flurry to come away with the win.

"We played a lot harder tonight and our energy was much better," DSU Head Coach Jon Judkins said. "Sometimes when you lose a game [Friday's home exhibition loss to Providence], it wakes you up a little bit. That said, it was a good weekend for us and our guys are getting better, and at this time of the year that's all we can hope for."

Newbold connected on 10-of-17 from the floor to go with four rebounds and two assists in only 19 reserve minutes. Meanwhile Schofield just missed his second double-double of the year as the junior finished with 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds, and Staine tallied 14 points of 6-of-9 shooting. The freshman also posted career-highs of seven rebounds, three steals and six assists, including a highlight reel lob for a Newbold alley-oop dunk with 4:31 left.

"I thought we did a good job attacking [SMU's] zone," Judkins noted. "We watched some film, we adjusted to it, and our guys saw what was open and took advantage of it. It does make a difference when you knock down shots."

Dixie State shot 39.4 percent (28-of-71) from the floor, 20.0 percent (5-of-20) from the perimeter, and hit on a season-high 73.7 percent (14-of-19) at the foul line. The Blazers also finished with a season-high 25 assists on their 28 made shots, including a game-high nine dimes from Jack Pagenkopf, who flirted with another triple double as he scored eight points with seven boards and three steals.

Malloy hit 10 of his 29 shots with four 3-pointers as he was one of four Saints to score in double figures. SMU went 26-of-72 (.361) from the field with nine total 3-pointers on the night and outrebounded DSU by a 49-45 count, 17-14 on the offensive glass.

The Trailblazers return to Salt Lake City next weekend for two more neutral site games hosted by Westminster College. DSU will take on Lake Superior State on Friday, Nov. 22, and Alaska-Fairbanks on Saturday, Nov. 23. Both games will tip at 5:30 p.m., inside the Behnken Fieldhouse.