(Riverside, Calif. - Feb. 15, 2025) - Despite a 49-point second half, the Trailblazers fought to the very end on Saturday night at California Baptist falling 86-83 to the Lancers at Fowler Events Center.

"We had chances and on the road, that is all you can ask for. It hurts, because we had a one-point lead, but I thought we got better and there are things to learn from. I thought this week we got better and we have to learn how to finish games," head coach Jon Judkins said after the tough defeat.

For only the second time this season, Utah Tech (6-19, 2-8 WAC) had five Trailblazers finish with double figures led by 18 points from Madiba Owona on 8-of-11 shooting from the field adding three rebounds, an assist and steal.

Justin Bieker came off the bench to score 15 points, his second-highest scoring performance of the season while Noa Gonsalves chipped in 14 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

Tennessee Rainwater and Beon Riley each tallied 12 points apiece with Rainwater tacking on five rebounds and a pair of steals.

California Baptist (13-12, 6-5 WAC) was led by WAC-leading scorer Dominique Daniels Jr. with 36 points with Martel Williams adding 15 points and Tylen Riley chipping in 10 points.

How It Happened
The first half saw the Lancers get out to a 19-6 lead after the opening six minutes of action and extended their lead to as many as 15 (32-17) in the opening half and led 45-34 at halftime.

Coming out of the locker room hot to start the second half, Bieker got the scoring started with a three-pointer followed by a three-point play by Rainwater to cut the CBU lead to five.

Continuing to claw closer, a three-pointer by Owona cut the Lancers' lead to 53-52, but a 17-8 run over the next five-and-half minutes put CBU back in front by 10 (70-60) with 9:21 to play.

Nine straight points for the Trailblazers over the next minute-and-half brought UT back within one at 70-69 and a three-pointer by Owona from the left corner locked the contest up at 77 with 5:01 to go.

A layup by Owona and a pair of free throws by Bieker kept UT ahead 81-79 and a jumper by Gonsalves kept the Trailblazers in front, 83-82 with 57 seconds remaining.

After a timeout, CBU scored on a layup to jump back ahead by one and two free throws by Williams made it 86-83 in favor of the Lancers as the final possession by the Trailblazers was lost.

Numbers to Know

• The Trailblazers fall to 14-10 all-time against California Baptist and 7-7 in Riverside.
• Utah Tech falls to 0-6 in games decided by three points or less this season and have dropped their last seven games dating back to 2024 with their last win coming in a three-point or less contest on Feb. 8, 2024 in a 70-68 win at home over Southern Utah.
• The Trailblazers shot a season-best 59.6 percent (34-57) from the field and also shot 35 percent (7-20) from three-point range and 57.1 percent (8-14) from the free throw line.
• UT held the advantage over CBU in points in the paint (40-34), points off turnovers (13-12) and bench points (27-22).
• Gonsalves has now scored in doubles figures in 20 games, Riley in 15, Bieker in eight, Rainwater & Owona in three each.
• Gonsalves led in rebounds for the second straight game, the only two times he has led the team in boards all season.
• The Trailblazers were held to six assists, their second-lowest total of the season behind only four at Wyoming on Nov. 16.

UP NEXT
The Trailblazers return home on Thursday night to host WAC leader Utah Valley (18-7, 10-1 WAC) for the Old Hammer Rivalry Game at Burns Arena at 7 p.m.