Utah Tech was felled by an Aaron Cash tip-in at the final horn as the Trailblazers lost an overtime heartbreaker at UT Arlington, 71-69, on Saturday afternoon at the UTA College Park Center.  

How it happened 
The Trailblazers (12-17/4-12 WAC) turned a slim 35-33 halftime lead into a 56-49 advantage with 10:42 to play in the second half after a Tanner Christensen offensive rebound and putback. 
 
Utah Tech would then go ice cold on offense, scoring only five points on one field goal and three free throws, while committing six turnovers over the final 10-plus minutes of regulation.  
 
Meanwhile, UT Arlington (11-18/6-10 WAC) went on to score 10 unanswered points after the Christensen bucket to go up 59-56 with 5:12 to go.
 
Christensen ended the Blazers' drought with a lay-in at the 4:08 mark. Then after Isaiah Pope tied the game with a free throw more than a minute later, Christensen knocked down a pair of charity tosses to put UT back up two at 61-59 with 2:13 remaining.
 
The Mavericks would pull eventually tie the game at 61-61 with 25.2 seconds left when Kyron Gibson dumped a pass down low to Cash, who laid the ball in and drew a foul. 
 
Cash, who was attempting UT Arlington's first foul shot of the game, missed the charity toss and the Trailblazers cleared the rebound and called a timeout to set up a possible game-winning shot.
 
Following the timeout, Cameron Gooden took a hand-off from Jacob Nicolds and drove from the right wing to the baseline, where the senior's contested jumper would not fall, which sent the game to overtime. 
 
 
Trailing by two with 10 seconds left in overtime, Pope found Nicolds wide open on the right wing, and the senior forward drove to the rim undefended for a one-handed dunk to tie the game at 69-69 with 6.8 on the clock. 
 
Marion Humphrey then took the ensuing inbounds pass, drove the length of the court and pulled up for a 10-footer just outside of the key. The shot caromed off the rim and backboard, and Cash managed to get his two-handed tip off just before the final horn sounded.
 
Numbers to know
Nicolds led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers.
 
Gooden, who was playing in his final game as a Trailblazer in his home state, followed up his 26-point night in Utah Tech's win at UTRGV on Thursday with 17 points on Saturday afternoon.
 
Christensen posted his team-leading fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and a career-high tying 14 rebounds. 
 
The Trailblazers shot 41.8 percent (23-of-55) from the floor, though they struggled from the perimeter, hitting on only 6-of-24 (.250) from beyond the arc. Utah Tech also connected on 17-of-25 (.680) at the foul line and was outrebounded by a slim 36-35 count. 
 
Utah Tech finished the road portion of its 2022-23 schedule with a 3-13 record, 1-8 in WAC play.
 
Cash led three Mavericks in double figures with 17 points. UTA went 28-of-61 (.459) from the field, 11-of-26 (.423) from 3-point country, and was 4-of-5 at the line, with all four makes coming in overtime. 
 
Up next
Utah Tech returns home for its final two games of the 2022-23 regular season this upcoming week. The Trailblazers will host Seattle U on Wednesday, March 1, before welcoming Grand Canyon to the Burns Arena on Friday, March 3. Both games will tip-off at 7 p.m.