Dixie State gave WAC leader New Mexico State all it could handle and more on Thursday night, but the Trailblazers fell short on their upset bid in a hard-fought 77-69 home loss in the Burns Arena. The setback, DSU's third-straight, dropped the Blazers to 11-13 overall, 4-7 in WAC play.
NM State (20-3/10-1 WAC) looked as if it was going to run away with its fifth-straight win as the Aggies knocked down four of their first five 3-point shots en route to an 18-8 lead just six minutes in.
Hunter Schofield answered with consecutive buckets to trim the DSU deficit to six, but NM State countered with seven-straight points to race out to its biggest lead of the half at 25-12 at the 10:58 mark.
The Blazers stayed within striking distance, again pulling to within six thanks to back-to-back jumpers from Schofield and
Isaiah Pope. But again, the Aggies came up with points and stops of their own to push their lead back to double digits before settling for a 39-32 cushion at the halftime break.
Dixie State, which committed only three first half miscues, turned the ball over four times in its first six possessions to open the second half. NM State capitalized with seven unanswered points to extend to a 46-32 advantage with 16:35 to play.
Dancell Leter ended the Blazer drought with a 3-pointer, and that kickstarted a 12-3 run that cut the Aggie lead to 49-44 game just two minutes later.
Cameron Gooden followed the Leter trey with a coast-to-coast transition lay-in, while
Frank Staine answered a Teddy Allen three with consecutive jumpers. Gooden then capped the run with a pull-up trifecta to make it a two-possession game.
New Mexico State clapped right back with an 11-2 rally, including nine-straight points that negated the Blazer run and returned the Aggies' 14-point lead at 60-46 with just under 10 minutes remaining.
Dixie State made one more push with less than seven minutes to go when Leter was fouled on a made 3-pointer from the left wing. Leter completed the four-point play, which was followed by a Staine lay-in, which was set up by an
Andre Mulibea steal, that pulled DSU to within five at 66-61 with 6:01 left.
With the Aggies nursing a 68-63 lead with just over three minutes left, Will McNair Jr. converted a conventional three-point play to stake NMSU to a 71-63 cushion.
Schofield countered with a step-back jumper on DSU's next possession, but a Johnny McCants dagger three from the right wing as the shot clock was ticking down made it a 74-65 game with 1:55 remaining. NM State would hit three of four at the foul line late to offset baskets from Schofield and Leter to come away with the win.
Staine led four Trailblazers in double figures with a season-high tying 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting to go with five rebounds. Leter added 15 points and five boards, while Gooden chipped in 11 points with four assists. Schofield finished with 10 points, including his last jumper with 18.9 seconds to play, which made him the fifth player in DSU's NCAA era to reach the 1,100-point plateau right on the number.
Dixie State shot 40.5 percent (30-of-74) from the floor, which included a 6-of-27 (.222) result from the perimeter. DSU also attempted a season-low four free throws (3-of-4; .750) and was outrebounded 40-35, though the Blazers held a 13-8 edge on the offensive glass.
Allen led all scorers with 20 points, while McCants finished with 13. NM State connected on 51.9 percent (28-of-54) of its shots and went 8-of-15 (.533) from downtown. The Aggies also went 13-of-18 (.722) at the charity stripe.
Dixie State will close the weekend by welcoming defending WAC champion, and former PacWest rival, Grand Canyon back to the Burns Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
