No. 13 Dixie State could not overcome a furious second half Colorado Christian rally as the Trailblazers bowed to the Cougars by a 105-97 count in overtime Saturday night inside the CCU Events Center.

With the loss, Dixie State (21-6/16-5 RMAC) missed out on an opportunity to clinch at least a share of the RMAC regular season title and the No. 1-overall seed in the upcoming RMAC Tournament.

DSU entered Saturday night tied with Black Hills State (16-5) atop the conference standings and one game ahead of third-place Colorado School of Mines (15-6). And as luck would have it, both BHSU (at UCCS 73-61) and Mines (at home vs. SD Mines 78-73) lost their respective games, which means that the top-three spots in the standings will remain unchanged heading into next Friday's final regular season set of games.

The Trailblazers shook off a slow start with a 16-3 run, including 10-straight points over a four-plus minute span, which turned a 16-9 deficit in to a 25-19 Dixie State lead following a Jacob Nicolds lay-in with 8:32 to play in the first half. Nicolds and Dason Youngblood led the way four points apiece as five different Blazers scored in the rally.

CCU (6-21/6-15) stopped the run with back-to-back 3-pointers from Jaydn Michael and Elijah Oliver to pull even at 27-27, but Dixie State would close half by outscoring the Cougars 21-8 to take a 48-35 lead in the locker room.

Lleyton Parker keyed the run with a corner 3-pointer as DSU scored 17 of the final 22 points in the period, which culminated with consecutive Frank Staine treys in the closing seconds to give the Blazers their 13-point halftime cushion.

Dixie State maintained at least a double-digit lead through the first five-plus minutes of the second half, extending the advantage as many as 16 points at 53-37 following a Jack Pagenkopf trey in the opening moments of the frame.

The Trailblazers would see that lead shrink in a hurry as CCU managed to score 12 points in four trips down the court. Aiden Cantwell knocked down a 3-pointer and converted a conventional three-point play that bookended a Jake Hornick lay-up and free throw and three Justin Engesser free throws, which helped trim the DSU lead down to 66-63 with 11:15 to play.

Dixie State pushed the lead back to six at 71-65 following a Parker bucket, but Colorado Christian would score five more points on one trip down the court thanks to a Cantwell perimeter jumper and a Trailblazer rebounding foul. Engesser drew the foul on the Cantwell make and Cougar guard hit both charity tosses to make a 71-70 game.

Youngblood answered with a jumper on DSU's next possession and Cameron Chatwin made a two-possession game at 75-71 with a pair of free throws at the 7:45 mark. However Michael countered with a monster dunk on the Cougars' ensuing offensive possession and after a CCU defensive stop, Collin Huun sank two free throws to knot the score at 75-75 with 7:11 to go.

Tied at 80-80 with just over four minutes remaining in regulation, the Trailblazers looked as if they had wrestled the momentum back after consecutive Hunter Schofield 3-pointers, the second of which put DSU up six with 2:45 on the clock.

Again CCU would rally, this time scoring eight of the final 10 points of regulation, which culminated with two Hornick free throws that knotted the score at 88-88 with 7.9 left. Pagenkopf then drove the court and pulled for a potential game-winning three at the horn, but his shot did not fall.

Colorado Christian outscored DSU 10-3 to open the overtime period as Engesser and Cantwell both hit 3-pointers, while the Cougar defense held Dixie State without a field goal for over four minutes until Pagenkopf laid in a shot with 34 seconds left to make it a 100-93 game. CCU cruised home from there to salt away the Senior Night win.

Schofield led five Trailblazers in double figures with 23 points before fouling out in overtime, while Youngblood and Pagenkopf added 14 points apiece. Meanwhile Chatwin poured in 13 points off the bench, and Staine finished with 10 points. DSU shot 50.7 percent (35-of-69) from the floor, which included a 42.9 percent clip (9-of-21) from the perimeter. However the Blazers were done in at the foul line and in the rebounding department as Dixie State missed 10 free throws (18-of-28, .643) and was outrebounded by a 43-31 margin.

Hornick led all scorers with 24 points, while Cantwell knocked down 6-of-7 from downtown to finish with 23 points. CCU connected on 34-of-66 (.515) of its shots with 15 3-pointers (15-of-35, .429), eight of which came after halftime. The 15 3-pointers made by CCU were the second most by a DSU opponent this season (17 at NM Highlands 12/13). 

Dixie State will play for at least a share of the RMAC title in its 2019-20 regular season finale at in-state rival Westminster College this Friday night, Feb. 28. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m., inside Behnken Fieldhouse in Salt Lake City.