(St. George, Utah - Feb. 26, 2026) - Despite a short bench, the Trailblazers outlasted Abilene Christian, 85-81 on Thursday night at Burns Arena.
Utah Tech (18-12, 11-5 WAC) extended their home winning streak to six and earned their eighth win in their last nine contests.
Led by four Trailblazers in double figures, senior forward
Ethan Potter led the way with 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field and tied with
Noah Bolanga for the team lead grabbing eight rebounds.
Redshirt sophomore guard
Chance Trujillo registered a season-high 24 points knocking down 9-of-11 from the field and 6-of-8 from three-point range and added four assists.
Jusaun Holt tallied 15 points and dished out a team-high six assists while Bolanga notched 12 points, corralled eight rebounds and nabbed three steals.
The Trailblazers shot a season-best 61.1 percent (33-54) from the field, 42.1 percent (8-19) from three-point range and 73.3 percent (11-15) from the free throw line.
Abilene Christian (13-15, 5-10 WAC) was led by the duo of Cbo Newton and Bradyn Hubbard with 27 points and 23 points, respectively
How It Happened
The Trailblazers raced out to an 8-2 lead and pushed their lead to 14-8 after a jumper by Holt.
ACU responded with a 17-8 run to jump ahead 25-22, but a three-pointer by Trujillo tied the game at 25 with 7:37 to play.
A late steal and dunk in the first half by Bolanga pushed the Trailblazers in the lead, 37-33 and pushed their lead to 42-33 after a free throw by
Britton Berrett.
Leading 47-38 at the break, the Trailblazers pushed their lead to 11 (60-49) after the opening six minutes with a triple by Trujillo.
A layup by Holt put the Trailblazers up 66-58 midway through second half, but the Wildcats went on a quick 6-0 run in the next minute to pull within a pair (66-64) with nine minutes remaining.
After ties at 70, 72 and 74 with 4:19 to go, the Trailblazers ripped off an 8-0 run over the next three-plus minutes making four of its next five field goals to jump in front, 82-74.
A pair of layups and a pair of free throws by the Wildcats cut UT's lead back down to two (82-80) with 10 seconds left, a free throw by Holt pushed the Trailblazers up three.
The Wildcats made one of two free throws with six seconds remaining before Holt knocked down a pair of free throws with three seconds left to seal the victory.
Numbers to Know
- The Trailblazers swept the Wildcats this season and earn their first-ever win at home over Abilene Christian in four meetings.
- The Trailblazers push their home winning streak to six and improve to 11-2 at Burns Arena this season for their most home wins in a season in the Division I era.
- The 61.1 percent (33-54) shooting from the field was nearly in the single season top 10 for a game in program history as the 10th-best mark is 61.7 percent vs. Chaminade in 2012-13.
- Utah Tech sits a half-game behind Utah Valley for first in the WAC regular season standings.
- Potter scored in double figures for the sixth straight game and 13th time in WAC play.
- Trujillo hit a season-best six three-pointers as it was the 12th time in the NCAA era a Trailblazer has connected on six or more three-pointers in a game.
- Trujillo's previous season high was 22 points vs. UT Arlington on Feb. 5.
- Trujillo is now shooting 53.1 percent from the field over the last six games hitting 34-of-64 from the field.
Up Next
The Trailblazers travel to Southern Utah (9-19, 5-10 WAC) for their final regular season road contest on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m.
