ST. GEORGE — The Trailblazers basketball teams traveled to Colorado on Friday and Saturday, taking on Western Colorado and Colorado Mesa in their second straight RMAC road doubleheader. The men’s team pulled out two close games, beating Western Colorado 90-82 and Colorado Mesa 67-62. The women lost to Western Colorado 61-49 and then lost to No. 21 ranked Colorado Mesa 59-54.
No. 15/21 Men’s basketball
The men kicked off the weekend with a high scoring win over Western Colorado, 90-82. The Trailblazers were up 12 at halftime and led most of the second half by double digits. With a little over a minute left in the game, a Western Colorado steal and layup cut the lead to six points but Dixie State responded and held on for the eight-point victory on the road.
Hunter Schofield and Jack Pagenkopf both had 16 points and 15 points respectively, but the biggest contribution came from Jacob Nicolds. Nicolds had 17 points on the night with 12 of them coming in the second half of play. The Trailblazers had four players in double figures with 10 players recording points in the game.
Dixie State followed up the close win with another close contest against Colorado Mesa, winning 67-62. Mesa is a top-five team in the conference and the road win for DSU was a big one.
Just after taking a 10-point lead into the locker room at the half, the Trailblazers took a 15-point lead, their largest of the night, with 17:59 left in the game. This is when Mesa went on a run, cutting the Trailblazer lead to just one with 8:07 left in the game. This was the closest Mesa would get as Dixie would yet again hold on to get the road victory.
Dixie State had four players in double figures again with Pagenkopf scoring 16 points and Dason Youngblood dropping 13 points of his own.
After two weeks on the road, Dixie State returns home for a weekend doubleheader against Adams State and Fort Lewis. The last time Dixie State played both of these teams they lost to Adams after beating Fort Lewis by 18 points. The Trailblazers will honor their seniors on Saturday against Fort Lewis, which is their last conference home game of the season.
If the Trailblazers finish in the top four of the conference standings they will host a first-round playoff game, and if they are the highest seed remaining after the first round they will host the conference tournament semifinals and finals.
Women’s basketball
On Friday night, Dixie State dropped the first game of their doubleheader at Western Colorado by a final score of 61-49. Western Colorado held the Trailblazers to just 24 points in the first three quarters, leading by 20 going into the fourth quarter. Dixie State cut the lead down to 12 but that was the best they could do after they struggled in the first half.
Keslee Stevenson led all scorers with nine points while Chesney Stevens and Makayla Johnson both had eight points.
On night two of their road trip, the Trailblazers came out of the gates with energy against No. 21 ranked Colorado Mesa. Dixie State led by 17 at the half after a great defensive and offensive half. Mesa cut the lead to 14 headed into the fourth quarter and then they turned on the afterburners. Mesa outscored Dixie State 27-8 in the fourth quarter to snag the five-point win.
Ali Franks led the way with 24 points and Madi Loftus added 14 points in the losing effort.
The women’s team comes home for a doubleheader this weekend against Adams State and Fort Lewis. they will honor their seniors on Saturday for senior night.
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