Utah Tech withstood a late CSUN rally and escaped with a 69-63 victory in its 2022-23 home opener on Saturday night inside the Burns Arena.

How it happened 
UT (1-1/0-0 WAC) trailed only three times on the night, with all three instances coming in the first 15-plus minutes in the first half.
 
The Trailblazers rattled off a 14-5 run to turn a slim 20-19 deficit into a 33-25 halftime advantage.
 
Utah Tech led 40-32 with just under 14 minutes to go before breaking the game open with a 18-5 spurt over six minute span en route to its biggest cushion of the night at 58-37 with 7:53 remaining.

Sophomore forward Trey Edmonds got the run started with an "and-one," while senior guard Cameron Gooden called bank on a straight-away 3-pointer as the shot clock was set to expire on UT's next possession. The senior guard accounted for seven of the Blazers' 18 points as Utah Tech seemed to be in control after the under-eight time out.
 
The Matadors (1-1) had other ideas as CSUN outscored Utah Tech 25-9 to make it a two-possession game at 67-62 with 32.5 seconds to play.

CSUN forced four Trailblazer turnovers, while UT struggled with its shooting touch, both from the field and the foul line late. However the Blazers managed to hit just enough at the charity stripe to hold off the Matadors and come away with the win. 
 

Numbers to know
Gooden was the Trailblazers' leading scorer for the second-straight game as he finished with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting. The senior also dished out a game high five assists tied a career high with eight rebounds. 

Frank Staine finished with 10 points, all in the first half, on 4-of-6 shooting to go with six boards and two steals.  
 
Utah Tech shot a season-high 45.7 percent from the floor (21-of-46), and was 5-of-17 from the perimeter (.294). UT wound up going 22-of-33 (.667) the foul line, and was outrebounded 44-38, including a lopsided 21-7 count on the offensive glass.
 
Dionte Bostick paced the Matadors with a game-high 31 points, with 19 of those points coming in the second half as he helped lead CSUN's second-half surge.
 
The Matadors shot 34.3 percent (23-of-67) on the night, which included a paltry 23.8 percent clip (5-of-21) from beyond the arc, and went 12-of-25 at the charity stripe.
 
Up next
Utah Tech embarks on a seven-game road swing, which begins in Seattle with a Monday night date at PAC-12 member Washington. Tip-off inside the Alaska Airlines Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. (PT).