Three Trailblazers scored in double figures, but it was not enough as Dixie State dropped its 2021-22 season finale on the road at Grand Canyon, 70-53, on Saturday night at the GCU Arena. DSU closed the season with four-straight losses to finish the campaign at 13-18 overall, 6-12 in Western Athletic Conference play.
 
The Trailblazers got off to a great start with a 14-4 run to take the sellout homecoming crowd out of the game just seven minutes into the action.
 
GCU (22-7/13-5 WAC) countered with 10-straight points over the next three-plus minutes to tie the game at 14-14.  
 
Frank Staine finally broke the Dixie State drought with a 3-pointer with 9:44 to play in the period to put the Blazers back up three. However back-to-back treys from Gabe McGlothan and Holland Woods gave the Lopes their first lead of the night as GCU outscored the Trailblazers 20-10 to close the half and take a 34-27 lead into the halftime break.
 
Dixie State started fast again to open the second stanza, scoring nine of the first 10 points of the frame to trim the deficit to 36-35 following a Dancell Leter lay-in.
 
However that would be as close as the Blazers would get to reclaiming the advantage as Grand Canyon slowly started to pull away before erupting for a decisive 14-2 run to take its biggest of the game at 57-42 with 8:20 to play. GCU would extend its lead to as many as 21 points before settling for its final winning margin.
 
Staine posted his best overall shooting night of the season as he finished with a team-high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including a 3-for-4 effort from the perimeter. The sophomore forward also pulled down nine rebounds to go along with a career-high three blocked shots, one assist and one steal in 34 minutes.
 
Leter added 14 points on 5-of-10 from the floor with six rebounds. Meanwhile senior Hunter Schofield, playing in his final collegiate game, notched his fifth double-double of the season, and the 10^th of his career, with 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
 
Schofield closed out his three-year career one rebound shy of becoming just the third player in Dixie State's NCAA era to join the 1,200/500 club as he finished with 1,223 points and 499 rebounds.
 
Dixie State shot 33.3 percent (17-of-51) on the night, though the Blazers were just 7-of-25 (.300) from the floor in the second half. DSU also hit on just 5-of-16 (.313) from the perimeter, 1-of-6 (.167) after halftime, and struggled at the foul line, where the Trailblazers went 14-of-25 (.560) for the game.  
 
Woods led a balanced GCU scoring attack with 13 points as eight different Lopes players scored. GCU's bench also outscored DSU's reserves by a 24-4 count. The Lopes shot 34.2 percent (25-of-73) from the floor with nine 3-pointers (9-of-32, .281) and outrebounded Dixie State by a 51-39 count, including an 18-8 count on the offensive glass.