(Riverside, Calif. – Dec. 6, 2023) Trailblazer men's basketball played Wednesday night, defeating the California Baptist Lancers 72-69 at the CBU Events Center. With the win, Utah Tech improves its record on the season to 5-3 with a perfect 2-0 record against WAC opponents.
 
"We shot really well in the first half, shared the ball and were moving, then the game got physical," Head Coach Jon Judkins said. "You've got to expect that on the road though… second half we were kind of on our heels, not taking things away, and their guard got hot.
 
"It's a game that turned out good for us but we're going to learn a lot from it."
 
With the same starting five that has opened every game this season, it would be Utah Tech who made some early noise, using a strong defensive effort and run to take a 10-4 lead into the 12-minute media timeout; in the game's opening eight minutes, UT forced seven Lancer turnovers.
 
The offensive started to stagnate but Noa Gonsalves connected on a big triple before the Lancers would take a lead with 7:50 to go, but the Trailblazer defense once again ignited the offense, as Hamed Olayinka and Beon Riley both blocked shots on the same possession with just under five minutes to go. Mere minutes later, Olayinka would come up with the highlight play of all highlight plays, rising up to throw down a vicious one-handed slam over a 6-11 Lancer defender.
 
That Trailblazer momentum continued as Utah Tech scored nine points in the final minute, capped off by a Unisa Turay buzzer-beating triple to end the half with a 41-26 lead that wrapped up a 19-4 run in the final 4:17 of action.
 
California Baptist would not go down without a fight, however, scoring on each of the team's first two possessions in the second half to prompt a Trailblazer timeout, but Utah Tech settled back in. Another Turay triple extended the lead back to 16 with 15:36 on the clock but CBU started to find a rhythm from range, hitting three triples over the next five minutes to cut the deficit down to just four points with a layup at the 9:07 mark.
 
After the Lancers brought the game within three points thanks to a jumper with just under six minutes to go, Utah Tech responded thanks to Jaylen Searles, who combined a pair of turnaround jumpers late in the shot clock with a Beon Riley to finish to cap a 6-0 run that extended the lead back out to nine with 3:50 on the clock, prompting the hosts to call a timeout.
 
Though Tanner Christensen converted an and-one with just two minutes remaining in the game to extend the lead to double-digits, CBU would go on a 9-0 run across the next 90 seconds to bring the game within three points with just 14 seconds on the clock. After a Utah Tech five-second call gave the hosts possession, the Trailblazer defense stepped up and forced its own five-second call on the Lancers, giving UT possession with a 70-69 lead, 10.4 seconds remaining in the game.
 
Utah Tech would get the ball in on the next play and Riley was fouled, sent to the line where the Chula Vista, Calif., native hit both of his shots to extend the lead to three. After Christensen forced a jump ball with just one second to go, the Lancers got a pass to an open shooter but Noa Gonsalves blocked the Lancer shooter to seal the 72-69 win.
 
Riley's big game culminated in a career-high 21 points, adding seven rebounds and three steals while shooting 8-10 from the field, 2-2 from deep and 3-3 at the line. Searles finished with 15 points on 7-13 shooting, adding seven boards and two assists while Olayinka's career game ended with a line of 11 points, five rebounds and three blocks in 21 minutes played.
 
Turay played a season-high 28 minutes and contributed 11 points and six assists while Gonsalves had seven points, two rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal.
 
As a team Utah Tech shot 30-51, good for a season-best 58.8% from the field while connecting on 6-10 from deep and making six attempts at the line; the Trailblazer defense limited the Lancer offense to just 7-26 (26.9%) from beyond the arc. With five steals and five blocks UT generated 15 CBU turnovers, converting those into 20 points off turnovers and 11 on the fast break, while the Trailblazers also dominated the paint to the tune of a 46-26 advantage in points scored in the paint.
 
Utah Tech returns to action this Saturday, hosting Idaho. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Burns Arena.