(Honolulu, Hawaii) - The Trailblazers opened the OUTRIGGER Rainbow Classic on Wednesday night with a hard-fought 79-75 loss to Manhattan at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Utah Tech (2-3) was paced by four Trailblazers in double figures led by a double-double from senior forward Ethan Potter who matched his season high with 20 points and grabbed a season-best 11 rebounds.

WAC Newcomer of the Week Chance Trujillo notched his fourth contest of the season in double figures finishing with 15 points going 4-for-8 from three-point range and added three throws.

Freshman Tanner Davis added 11 points and sophomore Noah Bolanga rounded out the double digit scorers with 10 points and came down with a season-high seven rebounds.

As a team, the Trailbazers shot 42.6 percent (29-68) from the field, 32 percent (8-25) from three-point range and 60 percent (9-15) from the charity stripe.

Manhattan (2-1) had three Jaspers in double figures led by junior guard Devin Dinkins with 20 points.

Sophomore forward Fraser Roxburgh added 19 points and eight rebounds and Jaden Winston chipped in 15 points and nabbed three steals.

How It Happened
A triple by Tujillo got the scoring started for the Trailblazers and a back-and-forth first half saw UT hold a slim 15-12 margin midway through half after a second three-pointer by Trujillo.

The Jaspers answered back with a 16-7 run to jump ahead 28-22 with 5:09 to play in the first half.

The Trailblazers quickly responded with a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to put Utah Tech ahead 32-30.

A layup at the buzzer by Madiba Owona broke a 34-all tie as the Trailblazers took a 36-34 lead to the locker room at the break.

Manhattan came out out the locker on a mission starting the first nine minutes of the second half on a 26-10 run to take a 60-46 lead.

A triple from Trujillo halted the run and ignited an 11-0 run for UT that brought the Trailblazers from down 13 (64-51) to within a pair after a layup by Bolanga with 6:04 remaining.

A jumper by Potter with 1:32 to play kept UT within a pair at 76-74 and Trujillo had a chance to tie the game with a pair of free throws with 28 seconds to go.

After making the first shot from the line, he missed the second after a Manhattan timeout with the Jaspers making three more free throws in the final seconds to secure the four-point victory.

Up Next
The Trailblazers are back in action for their second game of the OUTRIGGER Rainbow Classsic on Friday night against Mississippi Valley State (1-2) at 7:30 p.m. MT.