Hunter Schofield led all scorers with a career-high 31 points as Dixie State squared the newly-minted "Old Hammer Rivalry" thanks to a hard fought 93-89 victory at Utah Valley Saturday night inside the UCCU Center.

The Trailblazers (7-10/3-7 WAC) weathered an early UVU flurry, thanks in large part to the dynamic duo of Schofield and Frank Staine, to go with a couple late runs en route to a slim 47-46 into the halftime break.

UVU (7-8/5-2 WAC) jumped out to a quick 13-6 lead, but Schofield kept the Blazers in the game as he scored 12 of DSU's first 19 points, with his last bucket pulling his side to within three at 22-19 with 8:20 to play in the opening frame. The senior forward hit six his first eight shots, which helped carry Dixie State in the early going.

The Wolverines would again extend to a seven-point edge at 28-21, but the Trailblazers responded with nine-straight points to take their first lead of the night at 30-28 after a Staine 3-pointer at the 5:43 mark. Then after a Jamison Overton pull-up jumper knotted the score at 30-30, Cameron Gooden answered with a trey of his own to spot DSU its biggest lead of the night at 33-30.

UVU countered with a 12-4 spurt, culminating with a consecutive Tim Fuller baskets to go back on top, 42-37, but Dixie State outscored the Wolverines 10-4 in the final minutes of the period to wrestle the lead back before the halftime horn. Staine tallied eight of DSU's final 14 points of the period, highlighted by a "And One" on his second made trey of the night.

The two sides traded scores and the lead over the first seven-plus minutes of the second half until Dixie State started to pull away. Clinging to a 60-59 lead, Schofield drove the left wing and threw down a two-handed dunk, which sparked a 20-10 run over the game's next seven minutes, as the Trailblazers opened up their biggest lead of the night at 80-69 with 6:07 to play.

Schofield poured in six points in the rally, while freshman Andre Mulibea nailed a pair of 3-pointers and capped the run with a leaner in the lane.

Utah Valley would not go away quietly, however, as the Wolverines turned up the defensive pressure on DSU and outscored the Blazers by a 10-2 count to trim the deficit to 82-70 following a pair of Trey Woodbury free throws with 2:03 left.

Schofield stopped the run with two free throws on DSU's next possession and the Blazers would push the lead back to six at 87-81 after Isaiah Pope split two foul shots. Woodbury would hit a 3-pointer and three free throws on UVU's next two possessions, but Dixie State held the Wolverines at bay by going 6-of-8 at the line in the closing moments to seal the win.

"Wow, we were a whole different team tonight," Head Coach Jon Judkins said. "I thought we played a lot harder and we played more together, to me we felt like a team. I saw tonight what we can do, and if we can do what we did tonight, we have a good chance of winning a lot of games.

"We talked about it [in the locker room] and wondered if we were more happy that we won tonight or more upset with the way we played last night," Judkins added. "They all said they were probably more upset with how we played last night [DSU 87-72 loss to UVU Friday night]."

Schofield, a native of nearby Spanish Fork, enjoyed a happy homecoming as he finished the night 11-of-16 from the floor and 9-of-10 at the foul line. The senior also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and dished out three assists to cap arguably his best all-around game as a Trailblazer.

Meanwhile Staine finished with season high-tying 19 points, including 11-of-11 from the charity stripe, and 3-of-5 shooting with those two 3-pointers to go with four assists. Gooden also reached double figures as he tallied 14 points and picked off a game-high four steals.

Dixie State shot a WAC season high 51.7 percent (30-of-58) from the floor, which included a 7-of-18 effort (.389) from the perimeter. DSU's shooting percentage was also the second-highest, and the highest against a Division-I opponent, this season.

However the story was the foul shooting as the Trailblazers connected on 26-of-29 at the line (.897), including their first 20 attempts of the night. DSU also collected 21 assists on its 30 made field goals, with Brock Gilbert accounting for a game-high eight of those dimes, and DSU finished with seven steals.

"I am proud of our toughness, they didn't get scared when UVU made their run, and our defense tonight was so much better," Judkins noted. "When you play good defense, your offense flows, and I thought our guys did a great job with that tonight."

Woodbury finished with 27 points to lead Utah Valley, while the nation's leading rebounder Fardaws Aimaq broke his own school record with 25 rebounds to with 18 points as UVU outrebounded Dixie State by a 39-31 margin. UVU shot a 48.5 percent (32-of-66) from the floor, but were just 3-of-12 (.250) from beyond the arc.

Dixie State will close out the regular season with an extended homestand, which begins next weekend, Feb. 19-20, with a two-game series vs. fellow WAC newcomer Tarleton State. Tip-off each night inside the Burns Arena is slated for 7 p.m.