The Dixie State University men’s basketball team had a close call Saturday against Seattle Pacific University but ultimately beat the Falcons 90-88 in overtime for the last game of the Sodexo Tip-off Classic.
The Storm were down by two points with three seconds left on the clock. That’s when senior guard Kimball Payne saved the day with a quick layup to bring the game into overtime.
It came down to the final seconds again where Seattle Pacific had a chance to win the game but missed a critical layup, which resulted in Dixie taking the win.
“It was a close game down to the very last second, but it just came down to who wanted it more,” said guard Robbie Neilson, a sophomore business major from Gresham, Ore. “We all came together and played hard and ended up with the win,”
Junior guard DeQuan Thompson earned a career high of 21 points in 41 minutes. Thompson was awarded Most Valuable Player for the tournament.
“Seattle Pacific [was] a good matchup for us because they screen a lot; they like to run and can execute very well,” Thompson said. “It was fun to play in their house and [beat them]. It felt good.”
The Red Storm improved their record to 3-0. The Falcons dropped to 4-1.
Dixie also reached triple figures as it swooped past Central Washington University for its second straight win of the season on Friday for the first game of its two-game stretch.
The Storm beat the Wildcats 106-89. This was the seventh time DSU reached triple digits with Jon Judkins as the head coach. Both Thompson and junior center Zach Robbins had 18 points in the victory. Dixie shot 34-for-54 from the field.
“We executed the game plan really well, and because we played hard, we were able to open a lot of different options for the guys on the team,” Nielson said.
Dixie now prepares to take on Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Ore., Saturday.
