Despite a furious second half rally, Utah Tech suffered its first home loss of the 2022-23 season at the hands of Stephen F. Austin, 85-72, on Thursday night inside the Burns Arena.  

How it happened 
Utah Tech (9-8/1-3 WAC) fell in an early hole as SFA score eight of the game's first nine points on its way to a quick 15-6 lead. The Lumberjacks hit six of their first nine shots, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.
 
The Trailblazers pulled to within six at 19-13 after a Hagen Wright 3-pointer. However the 'Jacks rattled off a 17-5 run to bolt out to their biggest lead of the night at 36-18 with 6:45 to play in the first half, and would enjoy a 44-31 advantage at the halftime break.
 
SFA (13-5/5-0 WAC) connected on 18-of-33 (.545) from the floor in the first half, including 5-of-8 (.625) from the perimeter. 
 
Meanwhile Utah Tech managed to shoot better from the floor (10-of-17, .588; 4-of-8 3FG, .500) than SFA in the first 20 minutes. However the the Blazers were just 7-of-15 (.467) at the foul line, and turned the ball over 13 times, which resulted in 22 SFA points. 
 
Stephen F. Austin saw its leads swell to as many as 20 points at 61-41 with 13:08 remaining. 
 
UT managed to cut the deficit in nearly half thanks to a 12-3 spurt, that culminated with a Dancell Leter lay-in and free throw that drew the Blazers to within 11 at 64-53 at the the 8:45 mark.
 
Then after Latrell Jossell knocked down a 3-pointer, the Trailblazers ran off 10-unanswered points to make it a two-possession game at 69-63 with 5:26 to go.
 
Wright accounted for five of the Blazers' 10 points, including a corner 3-pointer that got the Burns Arena faithful out of their seats.
 
However would be as close as Utah Tech would get as SFA quickly countered with 10-straight points of its own to push the lead back to 16, and the 'Jacks maintained their double-digit lead the rest of the way to hand the Blazers their third-straight WAC loss.
 
 
Numbers to know
Wright led three Trailblazers in double figures with a career-high 14 points in 18-plus minutes off the bench. Wright went 5-of-7 from the floor with three 3-pointers and pulled down three rebounds.
 
Leter added 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go with three boards, and Noa Gonsalves chipped in 11 points. 
 
Utah Tech shot a season-best 54.8 percent (23-of-42) for the game, though UT was just 7-of-18 (.389) from beyond the arc.
 
However the Trailblazers were done by a season-high 25 turnovers, which led to 31 SFA points, and 14 missed free throws (19-of-33; .576). UT did outrebound the Lumberjacks by a 31-29 count. 
 
Sadaidrriene Hall led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. SFA shot 56.4 percent (31-of-55) from the floor on the night and 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from 3-point country. 
 
Up next
Utah Tech will quickly turnaround and host Sam Houston this Saturday night. Tip-off inside the Burns Arena is set for 7 p.m.