No. 16/15 Dixie State pushed its season-opening winning streak to eight-straight games on the strength of a 76-54 triumph over Black Hills State Saturday night inside the Burns Arena.

The Trailblazers (8-0/3-0 RMAC) broke open a tightly contested first half with a decisive 17-0 run, which turned a 13-9 deficit into a 26-13 Dixie State lead with 4:30 to play in the first half. Jack Pagenkopf accounted for 12 of DSU's 17 points in the run, including the final seven points, which culminated with the second of his two 3-pointers in that stretch.

Meanwhile, the Blazer defense forced five Yellow Jacket (3-5/1-2 RMAC) turnovers and held BHSU without a field goal for over 10 minutes as Black Hills missed on 10-straight shots, five of which were from the perimeter.

Black Hills State finally broke the dry spell with a Sava Dukic trey, which spurred an 8-0 spurt that cut the Blazer lead to 26-21, but Dixie State scored the final two points of the frame on a pair of Frank Staine free throws to take a seven-point cushion into the locker room.

Second half was all Trailblazers as Dixie State scored the first five points of the stanza to extend its lead back to double digits at 33-21. The Blazers never saw its lead dip below eight points from there and would push that advantage to as many as 24 points before settling for the 22-point result.

Pagenkopf finished with a co-game high 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-4 from the perimeter, to go with three assists, two rebounds and a career-high tying four steals. Meanwhile Hunter Schofield poured in 17 of his 19 points in the second half, hitting on 7-of-10 from the floor in the period, and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Dason Youngblood also scored in double figures as he tallied 10 points with a game-high four assists.

Dixie State shot 51.9 percent from the floor (28-of-54) in game, which included a scorching 73.1 clip (19-of-26) in the second half, and connected on eight of its 14 3-point attempts (.571) overall. The Blazers also enjoyed a season-high 85.7 percent night (12-of-14) at the foul line, and outrebounded the Yellow Jackets by a 36-26 count.

Tyler Oliver led three Yellow Jackets in double figures with 15 points. BHSU shot 38.8 percent (19-of-19) from the floor and were just 7-of-24 (.292) from beyond the arc.

After four neutral site games and four home dates, the Trailblazers will finally begin the road portion of their 2019-20 slate next weekend. DSU will open the trip at New Mexico Highlands on Friday, Dec. 13, followed by a date at CSU-Pueblo on Saturday, Dec. 14.