(St. George, Utah - March 8, 2025) - The Trailblazers closed out the regular season on Saturday evening falling in a nail-bitter to Seattle U, 70-65 on Senior Night at Burns Arena.

"The seniors fought hard tonight. I love my seniors and I appreciate how hard they have worked all year long. We are going to continue to fight for them heading into the WAC Tournament," head coach Jon Judkins said.

Utah Tech (6-25, 2-14 WAC) was led by a career-high 20 points from Samuel Ariyibi on 8-of-9 shooting from the field and he led the team with nine rebounds and four blocks.

Seniors Justin Bieker chipped in 12 points, Hakim Byrd added nine points and Noa Gonsalves tallied eight points.

Beon Riley tacked on six points and three rebounds as those four Trailblazers along with fellow seniors Sammy Howlin & Unisa Turay were honored prior to the start of the contest.

Seattle U (13-17, 8-8 WAC) was led by 26 points from Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe and also got double figures from guards Paris Dawson with 19 points and Brayden Maldonado adding 12.

How It Happened
Even over the opening five minutes of action at seven apiece, the Trailblazers took a 16-15 lead halfway through the first half after a layup by Ariyibi.

A 12-4 run over next four minutes put the Redhawks ahead 27-20 and a three-pointer by SU with 4:13 to play pushed the visitors lead to 10 (32-22).

Back-to-back three-pointers, from Byrd and Bieker, brought the Trailblazers back within four at 32-28.

With Seattle U building back up a seven-point cushion at 39-32 with 1:33 to go, the final five points of the half belonged to the Trailblazers notching a three-point by Ariyibi and pair of free throws by Stone Hutchings.

Two free throws by Bieker five-plus minutes into the second half gave the Trailblazers their first lead since early in the first half jumping ahead, 43-42.

Tied at 49 apiece halfway through the second half, a layup by Riley gave UT a 55-53 lead with 8:25 to play.

Continuing to lead by one with five minutes to go at 59-58 after a pair of free throws by Byrd, the Trailblazers stayed in front leading, 63-61 after a tip-in layup by Ariyibi with 2:50 to play.

The Redhawks locked up the contest at 63 with a layup by Moncrieffe and went ahead by four with a layup and pair of free throws.

Two free throws by Gonsalves cut Seattle's lead to 67-65 with 19 seconds remaining, but three final throws for the Redhawks sealed the win as a late three-point attempt by Byrd that would have tied the game came up short.

Numbers to Know

• The Trailblazers fall to 2-9 all-time against Seattle U and 2-4 vs. the Redhawks in St. George.
• Utah Tech shot 47.6 percent (20-46) from the field, 18.8 percent (3-16) from three-point range and 95.7 percent (22-23) from the charity stripe.
• The 95.7 percent shooting from the free throw line was the second-best in a single game in program history behind only going 11-of-11 against California Baptist on Jan. 19, 2013.
• The 22 made free throws tied for the third-most in a game this season.
• The Trailblazers held the advantage in rebounds (32-28), blocks (5-2), bench points (30-4) and fast break points (7-4).
• Ariyibi reached double figures for the 10th time this season and the fifth time in WAC play.
• It was Ariyibi's first time lead the Trailblazers in scoring this season and eighth time leading in rebounds.
• Ariyibi matched his season high with four blocks as his 42 total blocks this season are sixth-most in a single season.
• Bieker reached double figures for the eighth time and it was his 10th game of the season with multiple three-pointers made.

Up Next
The Trailblazers open the WAC Tournament with the opening round on Tuesday afternoon facing No. 8 seed Southern Utah (12-18) at 2:30 p.m. at Burns Arena.