No. 22 Dixie State weathered a furious second half Colorado Mesa rally to escape with a hard-fought 67-62 victory Saturday night at Brownson Arena. DSU has now won two-straight and eight of its last nine to improve to 19-4 overall. The victory also kept the Trailblazers tied atop the RMAC standings with Black Hills State at 14-3 with five regular season conference games remaining.

Dixie State led 40-30 at the half, thanks in part to three big first half runs, beginning with nine-straight points after spotting the Mavericks a quick 4-0 lead. DSU would lead by as many as seven points in the early going, but Colorado Mesa kept the Blazers from breaking the game open, eventually pulling to within a point at 20-19 following an Evan Menzies lay-in.

The Trailblazers then put together their second rally after the Menzies bucket, this time an 11-2 spurt, including nine-straight points, as DSU would extend a 31-21 lead after a Jack Pagenkopf jumper with 4:24 left in the period. Five different Blazers scored in the run, with Pagenkopf accounting for the final four points.

Meanwhile, CMU (14-9/10-7 RMAC) went nearly six minutes without a field goal until Georgie Dancer stopped the run with a drive in the lane with 3:25 remaining. That bucket sparked a quick 7-0 Maverick run that cut the Blazer lead to three at 31-28.

Dixie State shook off that run and would go on to score nine of the final 11 points of the frame to push lead back to double digits after a Pagenkopf trey at the halftime horn.

DSU kept that momentum going to start the second half as Frank Staine opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, which was followed by a Hunter Schofield lay-in, which staked the Blazers to their biggest lead of the night at 45-30 with 17:59 to play.

However that momentum would disappear in a hurry as Colorado Mesa outscored DSU 18-4 over a near 10-minute span to battle all the way back to pare the Blazer lead to a single point at 49-48 following a Tommy Nuno bucket with 8:07 remaining. Dixie State went ice cold from the floor over that stretch, misfiring on 12 of 14 shots, while turning the ball over four times.

Despite all their offensive struggles in the period, the Trailblazers would not relinquish the lead. After the under eight-minute media timeout expired at the 7:48 mark, the alarm clock went off for the Blazers as Dixie State struck for seven points in just 40 seconds to push the lead back to eight at 56-48.

Schofield knocked down a jumper out the timeout, which was followed by a Maverick miss and an Andre Wilson 3-pointer. Dason Youngblood then cashed in another Blazer defensive stop with a mid-range bucket of his own as DSU snatched the momentum right back.

Dixie State maintained at least a two-possession cushion over the next several minutes, though CMU made things uncomfortable late. Nuno drew the Mavericks to within 64-60 with a bucket with 20 seconds to go, and after Pagenkopf split a pair of free throws, Dancer scored to make it a three-point game with 14 ticks on the clock.

Pagenkopf was sent back to the line, though this time the senior hit both charity tosses to provide the final winning margin. CMU would miss on one final 3-point attempt and the Blazers celebrated snapping the Mavs' 11-game home court winning streak.

Three Trailblazers scored in double figures, led by Pagenkopf with a game-high 16 points, though he was held to those three free throws in the second half after a stellar opening frame. Youngblood added 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting with six rebounds and four assists, and Schofield finished with 10 points.

DSU shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the floor, 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from beyond the arc, and went 12-of-16 (.750) at the foul line. Dixie State also outrebounded CMU by a 39-29 count. 

Nuno paced four Maverick players in double figures with 13 points. CMU hit on 49.1 percent (26-of-53) on the night, though the Mavericks were held to a 4-of-19 clip (.211) from the perimeter.

Dixie State closes out its 2019-20 home regular season schedule next weekend with return games vs. Adams State on Friday, Feb. 14, and against Fort Lewis on Saturday, Feb. 15. Both games are slated to tip off inside the Burns Arena at 7:30 p.m.