Utah Tech was doomed by turnovers and missed free throws as the Trailblazers' 2023-24 home finale was spoiled by an 86-79 loss to Abilene Christian on Saturday night in the Burns Arena. 
 
The loss, Utah Tech fifth-straight, dropped the Trailblazers to 10-19 overall, 6-12 in Western Athletic Conference play.
 
Utah Tech led 38-35 after a tightly contested first 20 minutes, and would extend that cushion to five points at 42-37 thanks to a Beon Riley jumper in the early moments of the second half.
 
ACU (14-15/9-9 WAC) battled back to knot the score at 46-46 following an Ali Abdou Dibba 3-pointer, but the Blazers clapped back to with two Tanner Christensen free throws and a Riley bucket to make a two-possession game with 14:36 remaining.
 
The Wildcats answered that spurt with an 18-8 run of their own over the next five-plus minutes, which turned the 50-46 deficit into a 64-58 lead with just over nine minutes to go.
 
Utah Tech pulled to within a point at 66-65 after a Noa Gonsalves 3-pointer with 6:11 left, but ACU managed to outscore the Trailblazers 15-7 over another five-minute span to push its advantage to 81-72 after an Airion Simmons dagger trey with 59 seconds on the clock.
 
The Wildcats would hit their free throws in the waning second to escape with their sixth-straight win and a WAC tournament berth.
 
Gonsalves tied a season high with 21 points to pace three Trailblazers in double figures Gonsalves went 8-of-18 from the floor with four 3-pointers, which vaulted him into second place on Utah Tech's single season 3-pointers list (62).
 
Meanwhile Riley posted his second double-double of the season with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Six of Riley's 10 boards came on the offensive glass, which led to eight of the junior's 15 points on the night.
 
Christensen also poured in 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting to go with seven rebounds in his final home game in a Trailblazer uniform.
 
Utah Tech shrugged off a slow start offensively to shoot 48.3 percent (29-of-60) from the floor, which included a 6-of-21 (.286) effort from beyond the arc, and the Blazers outrebounded ACU 39-31.
 
However the Trailblazers went 15-of-24 at the foul line, with five of those misses coming in the second half. 
 
Utah Tech was also done in by 18 turnovers, which led to 23 Wildcat points, 14 of which were scored after halftime. 
 
Leonardo Bettiol led all scorer with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while Abdou Dibba added 17 points. ACU shot 47.7 percent (31-of-65) for the game, and was 18-of-21 (.857) at the foul line. 
 
Utah Tech will close the 2023-24 regular season with a pair of must-win road games in Texas if the Trailblazers hope to advance to the WAC Tournament later this month. The two-game trip starts at UTRGV on Thursday night in Edinburg at 6:30 p.m. (CT), inside the UTRGV Fieldhouse.