The men’s basketball team came home from the Thanksgiving break with two losses in place of turkey and stuffing.
The first game of the tournament was played on Nov. 23 against Fort Lewis College. The game ended in a close loss with an overtime score of 82-89.
“We were up three with nine seconds,” head coach Jon Judkins said. “I’m a big believer in fouling when you’re up three. We had a great opportunity, and we didn’t do it. We decided not to foul, and the kid hit a three point at the buzzer to tie to go to overtime.”
Judkins said it was his choice to refrain from fouling, and it was a mistake on his part.
“It’s something that I normally do, but I just decided not to,” Judkins said. “I told the team after the game that it was my fault, and it won’t happen again.”
Sophomore forward Zach Robbins had a career-high of 22 points with 10 rebounds, but Fort Lewis’ junior guard Nick Tomsick led his team with 27 points that led them into the overtime victory.
Judkins said Robbins played a great game on Saturday because of his double-double.
“I felt pretty good about how I played; it was just disappointing that we lost,” said Robbins, an integrated studies major from Upland Calif. “But it was bittersweet overall.
The second game of the tournament also ended in a loss against Colorado Mesa University with the score of 61-80.
The Red Storm had the lead at the half at 30-24, but the second half was a different story. After DSC had a 14-point lead, CMU went on a 14-0 run to tie the game at 41-41 with 12:02 left in the game.
The Mavs then continued on to a 23-0 run, which changed the score 50-41, with Dixie being scoreless for seven minutes.
“We had a big lead, and I think sometimes when we’re up we tend to just relax a little bit,” Robbins said. “Once we get our defense going, then I think we can go out on a run, and the buckets come a little easier. It all starts on the defense.”
CMU finished the half outscoring DSC 56-31. That ended the game with a 80-61 loss for the Red Storm.
“We grew a lot, and we learned a lot in that weekend,” Judkins said. “I hate losing, but sometimes a loss like that can help your team more than a blow-out win, so we’re using that to our advantage.”
Dixie State now prepares to play Saturday against University of Hawai’i at Hilo.
“It’s going to be a war,” Judkins said. “Hilo always plays well against us. We’ve gone in overtime probably three or four times with them, so we know it’s going to be a tough game. We need our crowd to get behind us. We need people here.”
The Vulcans are on a four-game losing streak, and they only have one win for their entire season so far.
Hawai’i-Hilo suffered a loss its last game against Montana State University-Billings 61-67, who the Red Storm beat back on Nov. 16 with the score 90-77.
“We’re going to be ready,” Judkins said. “So please come out and support us.”
Robbins wants to give a shout-out full of gratitude to his mother this holiday season.
“I love you mom,” Robbins said. “Thank you for your support.”
DSC plays Saturday at the Burns Arena at 7 p.m.
