(Jacksonville, Ala. – Nov. 11, 2023) Trailblazer men's basketball played Saturday afternoon, defeating the Jacksonville State Gamecocks 81-79 on their home court in a game that went to overtime. The result concludes Utah Tech's season-opening road trip with a 1-1 record.
"A win is a win and you take them any way you can get them. Ugly, good, bad, whatever you want to call it, it's special on the road," Head Coach
Jon Judkins said. "The crowd was great which was fun, a hostile place screaming and yelling at you but we need to experience these games and coming out on top is nice.
"You learn so much from games like this and I loved how these guys didn't quit, kept fighting without much complaining," Judkins added. "They kept their heads."
Tanner Christensen won the opening tipoff and scored on the ensuing possession as Utah Tech jumped out to a quick lead. Christensen and
Beon Riley would both hit threes to take an 8-2 advantage into the first media timeout. Jacksonville State wouldn't go down quietly, however, as both teams would trade buckets throughout the first 20 minutes.
The hosts took a lead with 12:59 to go but Riley struck back with his second triple of the game, later adding a fast break bucket to build back Utah Tech's lead to five points at the 10:07 mark. Both teams continued to go back-and-forth with Jacksonville State taking a three-point lead at the 4:05 mark that was quickly countered by back-to-back Christensen buckets and a
Unisa Turay layup to regain the lead.
After sinking a pair of free throws with 22 seconds left in the half, Jacksonville State led, 33-31, at the halftime horn.
Utah Tech started the second half with a bang, as
Aric Demings converted an and-one mere seconds into the period before
David Elliott accounted for seven-consecutive points to turn a deficit into a four-point lead.
The back-and-forth affair continued with Utah Tech maintaining a small lead as the half progressed, but the Gamecocks went on an 11-1 run to take a 68-61 lead with 2:39 remaining in the game.
Christensen came up with a finish on the next possession before Demings connected on a late-game triple, cutting the deficit to just two points with 1:09 remaining. Utah Tech almost had a chance to tie after Christensen made a two-handed block on the defensive end, but JSU blocked the next Utah Tech shot off a Trailblazer leg and out of bounds.
After the Gamecocks went 1-2 at the line, Riley connected with his third triple of the game, bringing Utah Tech within one point with 19 seconds remaining in the game. Though JSU would counter with a layup, Christensen hit a layup with less than one second remaining in regulation to tie things up and send it to overtime.
Though the hosts would open up a three-point lead mid-way through that extra period of play,
Aric Demings connected on a clutch triple to tie the game at 75 with 3:27 remaining. After both teams traded buckets in the final two minutes, it would be Demings who struck the final blow with mere seconds on the clock.
After a missed JSU free throw and Trailblazer rebound, the Desoto, Texas, native turned a corner and finished off the glass, putting Utah Tech ahead by two with just three seconds remaining in the game
Jacksonville State was unable to connect on a half-court heave as Utah Tech earned its first victory of the 2023 campaign.
Christensen tied a career-high with 26 points on 12-19 shooting, also adding nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal. Demings' late game hot streak resulted in 16 points, with the freshman guard shooting 2-4 from deep and 4-5 at the line to go with five boards and three assists. Riley's strong performance ended with a career-high 15 points along with six rebounds and five assists across 41 minutes of action.
Three days after dropping 24 on opening night,
David Elliott shot 4-5 from the field to finish with 14 points while
Hamed Olayinka had four points, two rebounds and two blocks in 10 minutes on the floor.
"(Jacksonville State) couldn't stop Tanner. They were really physical in the post, had both hands in his back, trying to push him out of there but he just kept fighting. I thought Beon played well, got a little tired there at the end but I thought he gave us good game tonight and played a lot of minutes for us," Judkins said. "David started hot and (
Unisa Turay) also gave us a nice little spark. He came into the game, hadn't seen a lot of time but came in ready to go. I thought those guys all had outstanding games."
As a team Utah Tech shot 31-68 (45.6%) from the field and 9-18 (50.0%) from deep, connecting on 10 shots at the line while finishing level with JSU in the rebounding battle at 37. With 16 offensive boards Utah Tech scored 21 second chance points while using nine steals to produce 27 points off turnovers and 14 points on the break; the lead changed hands 14 separate times.
Utah Tech returns to action next week, playing twice in a multi-team event hosted by Youngstown State.
