(Las Vegas - March 12, 2025) - The Trailblazers battled tough on Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament falling to top seed Utah Valley, 74-57 at Orleans Arena.

Utah Tech (7-26) was led for a second straight WAC Tournament contest by senior guard Hakim Byrd, who finished with 17 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the field and sank all eight of his free throw attempts.

Fellow senior Beon Riley also finished in double figures in his final game as a Trailblazer tallying 13 points, including hitting three three-pointers, and grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds.

In his 127th and final game as a Trailblazer, senior guard Noa Gonsalves finished with eight points, two rebounds and two steals.

Utah Valley (24-7) was led by 16 points from Tanner Toolson with WAC Defensive Player of the Year Carter Welling adding 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

How It Happened
Getting out to a hot start, the Trailblazers led 10-6 after the opening five minutes of action getting a pair of three-pointers and field goals from Riley and Madiba Owona.

The Wolverines battled back with an 8-0 run to take a 14-10 lead before a drive by Tennessee Rainwater closed the gap to a pair after a driving layup.

A 6-2 run for the Wolverines pushed UVU's lead to 20-14, but a three-pointer by Gonsalves brought the UVU lead back down to three.

Another 8-0 run for the Wolverines, that saw the Trailblazers go scoreless for over four-and-half minutes of action, put UVU ahead 28-17 as the Trailblazers trailed 31-22 heading into the break.

A quick start to the second half for the Wolverines saw the Trailblazers trail 40-29 after the opening five minutes before a three-pointer by Riley cut the deficit to 48-39 with 11:49 to play.

A pair of free throws by Byrd made it 54-42 halfway through the half, but that would be as close as the Trailblazers could get down the stretch as Utah Valley led by as many as 21 (67-46) to go on for the 17-point win.

Numbers to Know

• The Trailblazers fall to 3-8 all-time against Utah Valley.
• Utah Tech shot 31.1 percent (19-61) from the field, 27.3 percent (6-22) from three-point range and 72.2 percent (13-18) from the free throw line.
• Utah Valley countered shooting 46.2 percent (24-52) from the field, 28.6 percent (4-14) from three-point range and 78.6 percent (22-28) from the free-throw line.
• The Trailblazers held an advantage in steals (6-5), points off turnovers (11-9), second chance points (6-5) and fast break points (11-10).
• Utah Tech finished in the top five in a single season in program history in field goal attempts (1,908, 1st), three pointers made (246, 2nd), three pointers attempted (738, 2nd), steals (213, 3rd), blocks (106, 4th), points (2,305, 5th) and field goals made (810, 5th).