(St. Charles, Mo. – Nov. 27, 2023) Utah Tech men's basketball played Monday night, defeating the Lindenwood Lions 73-66 at Hyland Arena. With the result, Utah Tech is back at .500, posting a 3-3 record, with a home opener at Burns Arena scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m.
 
"I thought it was a good game overall. We did some really good things," Head Coach Jon Judkins said. "We made some changes in our offense and defense yesterday which sometimes can spark a team and hopefully we can use that spark moving forward."
 
Featuring the same starting five that has started every game this season, the opening minutes were a balanced affair that saw both teams find looks on the offensive end. Mid-way through the half, Tanner Christensen connected on a triple that ignited a quick 9-0 run that was capped by a Unisa Turay steal and finish at the other end, prompting a Lindenwood timeout.
 
Utah Tech would pour on 10 more points unanswered, building a 31-12 lead with 9:03 remaining in the half, with Jaylen Searles finding a rhythm to fuel the offensive output.
 
Lindenwood would not go down easy, however, chipping away at the Utah Tech lead down the stretch of the half as the lead was 44-31 at the halftime break.
 
The Lions' offensive momentum would continue into the early portions oof the second half, using an 11-2 run early in the period to bring the game within three at 52-49 in favor of the Trailblazers with 14:10 to go. LU brought the game within a single point at the 9:37 mark, but another Searles triple extended the lead to four to maintain the Trailblazer lead.

After the hosts brought the game back within two Utah Tech went on an 8-2 run that saw Beon Riley go a perfect 4-4 at the line, extending the lead to 68-60 with 4:07 remaining in the game.
 
Lindenwood brought the game back within three points thanks to a triple at the 2:04 mark, but Tanner Christensen would go on to hit several clutch buckets including a pair of free throws as the Trailblazers rode out the 73-66 victory.
 
Christensen's strong second half fueled his team-leading 20 points, shooting 7-10 from the field while grabbing nine rebounds and blocking a shot. Searles' big day culminated in a line of 17 points, nine rebounds, six assists and one steal while Noa Gonsalves finished with 11 points in 34 minutes played. Beon Riley was also a member of the double-digit scorers club with 10 points on a perfect 6-6 at the free throw line, while Aric Demings finished with eight points, three rebounds and five assists.
 
"I try to go out and play my hardest every time but sometimes I get in my own head so I just try to stay focused," Searles said. "Defense makes the game a lot easier, so if I'm not performing on offense I just focus on playing some defense, getting some steals and stops – it makes everything easier."
 
"When you're not shooting the ball well it's important to do those other things because it allows you to focus on other things and relax offensively, get some easy buckets," Coach Judkins added." Jaylen was getting after it, denying, doing what we thought he would do… he was our player of the game."
 
Unisa Turay led all bench players with 18 minutes played, recording tow points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals while Caleb Stearman's 15 minutes of action resulted in two points and two rebounds.
 
As a team, Utah Tech shot 24-51 (47.1%) from the field, connecting on 7-19 (36.8%) from deep and making 18 shots at the line. The Trailblazer defense held Lindenwood to just 24-69 (34.8%) from the field and 5-19 (26.3%) from deep while forcing 10 turnovers thanks to six steals and two blocks.
 
Six offensive rebounds led to seven second chance points and 32 in the paint while the team scored 14 fast break points; Utah Tech held the lead for nearly 38 minutes of game action.
 
Trailblazer men's basketball returns to action this Saturday, hosting Utah Valley at Burns Arena. Tipoff against the Wolverines is scheduled for 7 p.m.