Hunter Schofield scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, while freshman Frank Staine added 17 points in his first collegiate game, as Dixie State rallied past Texas A&M-Commerce in the 2019-20 season opener for both teams as part of the D2 Conference Challenge Friday night inside Westminster College's Behnken Fieldhouse.

Trailing 54-47 midway through the second half, the Trailblazers rattled off eight straight points on 3-pointers from Jack Pagenkopf and Staine that book-ended a Cameron Chatwin jumper, to wrestle the lead away at 55-54 with 7:19 remaining.

TAMU-C (0-1) quickly took the lead right back and extended to a 64-58 advantage with under five minutes to play. However consecutive jumpers from Schofield and an Andre Wilson trey kick-started an 9-2 run, which culminated with another Staine basket, as Dixie State would regain the lead at 67-66 with 1:48 to go.

After empty possessions from both sides, Pagenkopf tipped the ball away from a Lion player in transition, which was recovered by Staine who was then fouled with 39 seconds left. The freshman hit both free throws, and after multiple missed Lion perimeter shots, Wilson managed to finally clear away a defensive rebound and was fouled. The senior would go on to hit on both ends at the foul line to put the game away.

Schofield connected on 5-of-8 from the floor in the second half, including a pair of clutch shots in the early going of the frame, and finished with six rebounds in his Trailblazer debut. Meanwhile Staine went 6-of-14 from the floor with three 3-pointers to go with three boards and two assists.

Pagenkopf came within one point and three assists of a triple-double as he tallied nine points with game-highs of 11 rebounds and seven dimes, and Wilson hit both 3-pointers he took as part of an eight-point, two-assist effort off the bench.

After shooting just 34.5 percent in the opening half, Dixie State (1-0) connected on 48.5 percent (16-of-33) from the floor in the second stanza to finish at 41.9 percent (26-of-62) from the game. DSU also hit on 8-of-24 (.333) from the perimeter and went 11-of-16 (.688) at the line.

Deon Barrett poured in 19 points and Deonta Terrell added 18 to lead the Lions. Commerce shot 35.5 percent (22-of-62) from the floor, which included a 9-of-38 night (.237) from beyond the arc, and outrebounded DSU by a slim 37-36 count.

The Trailblazers will continue play at the D2 Conference Challenge on Saturday night against UT-Tyler at 5:30 p.m.