Dixie State University earned its first preseason win with five players scoring in double figures in a 82-72 victory against Arizona Christina University Thursday night in the Burns Arena.
DSU started the first half on fire and scored the first nine points of the game. DSU kept the pressure on and extended its lead 40-28, but ACU fought back and shot 53 percent from three-point land.
ACU ended the half going on a 15-2 run, which gave it a 43-42 advantage at halftime.
Senior guard Robbie Nielson, a business administration major from Gresham, Oregon, had nine points, five assists and led the time from the foul line shooting 5-6.
“I think we may have gotten too complacent with where we were with our lead,” Nielson said. “It took a little bit in the second half to get it together and start gelling with each other, [and] that’s when we were able to put the game away at the very end.”
DSU finally took back the lead 54-53 after a 10-2 run and only trailed once after that.
DSU only connected on 4-11 from downtown but made up for it on the defensive side of the ball and held ACU to just 35.5 percent from the field in the second half.
“The times when [ACU] went on its runs was when our defense was at our worst,” Nielson said. “Coach put emphasis on defense. As long as we can get stops we’ll be able to score.”
Senior forward Mark Ogden Jr. led all scorers with 15 points and grabbed six rebounds before fouling out. Junior forward Josh Fuller and sophomore guard Trevor Hill, a business administration major from Sandy, both added 12 points. Senior guard Mason Sawyer also had 12.
“We just got to play smart,” Hill said. “The coaches do a great job breaking down film, giving us keys to the game and if we do that we can win a lot of games.”
DSU will take on Concordia University Nov. 11 in the Dixie State Classic Tournament.
