The Dixie State University men’s basketball team has been at the top of the Pacific West Conference standings at the end of the year for four years running.
Obviously, DSU is well-known in the PacWest.
“Everyone wants to beat Dixie,” said DeQuan Thompson, a junior communication major from Las Vegas. “We have a target on our backs still, so getting these three wins this week was huge.”
Chaminade University
The Red Storm finished a three-game sweep at home against Hawaiian foes Saturday with a roaring comeback victory over Chaminade University.
Down by 21 points nine minutes into the contest, the Red Storm composed an impressive comeback, which included outscoring the Silverswords 50-30 in the second half.
The Storm were outscored in a hurry in the first eight minutes of the game as Chaminade came out on fire from the field. However, the Swords cooled off after making their first 7-8 shots from downtown.
Then the Red Storm made a comeback.
After eight quick turnovers, the Red Storm only had four more the rest of the game and only one the entire second half.
“We like to take everything four minutes at a time during the game,” Thompson said. “I don’t think the team was worried [during the game] because we just kept our composure and just chipped away at the score.”
With senior forward Dalton Groskreutz in early foul trouble, senior forward Louis “Bonesaw” Garrett started to get the Red Storm going offensively. Garrett finished the game with 15 points, scoring 11 of those points in the first half.
“I think that the [performance] that Garrett gave us off the bench tonight was huge,” said head coach Jon Judkins. “He loves playing at home, and he is getting back from his injury, and that couldn’t be at a better time for us.”
The Silverswords were led by junior point guard Lee Bailey with 25 points. Hot-shooting Chaminade only made one 3-pointer in the second half.
Junior center Zach Robbins also celebrated his birthday Saturday by putting up his 14th double-double this season with 20 points and 15 rebounds: A performance that was just as advertised by his family in the crowd that held up signs for Robbins which read, “typical brilliance.”
“It was definitely a team effort and a good team win,” said Robbins, a junior communication major from Upland, Calif. “I was able to post up on some smaller guys because they were switching on screens a lot tonight.”
Junior point guard Kimball Payne had a career-high of 12 assists along with his 13 points in the game.
University of Hawaii-Hilo
The Dixie State University men’s basketball team showed a lot of love the night before Valentine’s Day as all 12 players in DSU jerseys saw playing time Thursday night in a win against University of Hawaii-Hilo.
The Red Storm cruised to victory against the Vulcans at home, tallying the win with a final score of 97-69.
Leading the Storm in points was sophomore point guard Mason Sawyer, who ended the night with 18 points.
However, the highlight reel again belonged to Garrett found himself at the rim for a dunk three times during the game. Garrett had back-to-back dunks in the second half to put the icing on the cake for the Storm with six minutes remaining.
Senior center Jordan Rex pulled in 16 rebounds on the game, leading the Storm in their annihilation on the boards as they out-rebounded Hilo 57-27. Junior forward Curtis Papenfuss also had double-digit rebounding numbers, finishing his double-double night with 10 boards and 11 points.
Hawaii-Hilo junior guard Darnell Williams scored a game-high 20 points for the Vulcans.
The win puts DSU back on a winning streak after defeating Brigham Young University-Hawaii 107-94 Tuesday.
The Storm are now 9-1 when playing at home and 19-4 overall.
DSU will go on the road to the San Francisco bay area to play Dominican University of California and the Academy of Art University this weekend. Then will end at home on March 1.