Dixie State saw its losing skid hit four games as the Trailblazers dropped a 72-65 decision at UT Rio Grande Valley on Saturday night inside the UTRGV Fieldhouse. With the loss, DSU fell to 4-5 overall, 0-2 in WAC play.

The Trailblazers and Vaqueros (8-3/2-0 WAC) battled back and forth through an even opening 20 minutes that saw both sides shoot 50 percent from the floor and get balanced scoring up and down the line-up.

DSU opened up a 22-18 lead midway through the stanza thanks to eight-straight points, and owned a 33-30 advantage with under four minutes to play, but UTRGV scored seven of the final nine points of the period to take a slim 37-35 lead into the halftime break.

The second half began like the first as both teams traded buckets until the Trailblazers vaulted to their biggest lead of the night at 55-49 after a Cameron Gooden 3-pointer with 14:09 to play.

From there the Dixie State offense went ice cold from the floor as the Blazers missed on 15 of their final 17 field goal attempts. Meanwhile, the Vaqueros rattled off a 15-3 run of their own en route to their own six-point cushion at 64-58 with 8:20 remaining.

Though the Trailblazers struggled on the offensive end, Dixie State still managed to stay within striking distance as UTRGV went through a scoring drought, while DSU also hit 6-of-10 from the charity stripe, including an Isaiah Pope free throw that made it a one-possession game at 66-63 with 3:30 left.

However that would be as close as Dixie State would get as Gooden was called for an offensive foul on a made lay-in with 2:27 on the clock. UTRGV forward Uche Dibiamaka then followed with a baseline drive and dunk, and the Vaqueros hit their free throws down the stretch to ice the win. 

Gooden led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including 11 second-half points to keep DSU in the game. Hunter Schofield posted his first double-double of the year with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds off the bench, and Jarod Greene finished with 10 points on 4-of-6 from the floor.

Dixie State shot 42.9 percent from the floor (24-of-56), but hit on just 35.7 percent (10-of-28) of its attempts after halftime, and went 19.2 percent (5-of-26) from 3-point country. DSU also missed 10 free throws (12-of-22, .545), but the Blazers did outrebound UTRGV by a 42-37 count.

Javon Levi led five Vaquero players in double figures with 16 points and dished out a game-high 11 assists. UTRGV connected on 45.9 percent (28-of-61) of its shots, 4-of-19 (.211) from the perimeter.

Dixie State returns home for a big two-game series vs. current WAC co-leader and former Pacific West Conference rival Grand Canyon next weekend, Jan. 22-23. Tip-off each night inside the Burns Arena is slated for 7 p.m.