Dixie State Erases 17-Point Deficit To Win Championship - Mar 4, 2018

Dixie State erased a 17-point deficit in the 2018 PacWest Men's Basketball Tournament Championship to defeat No. 2 California Baptist 66-64 on Saturday for the second PacWest Tournament title in program history.
The regular season champion Trailblazers added to their trophy case as they boosted their winning streak to 17 games for a 23-6 record. California Baptist dropped to 25-5 on the season, but will continue its season in the NCAA West Regional.
The PacWest Tournament's Most Outstanding Player Brandon Simister (6'0''-PG-94) scored a game-high 28 points in the championship, which was the most he scored in any single game this year. However, his biggest play of the game came on the defensive end, chasing down a long rebound on the final possession to secure the victory.
California Baptist was dominant for most of the first half, going on a 20-4 run in under eight minutes to grab a commanding 31-14 lead. During that stretch, Matt Hubbard (6'9''-F) went 5 for 6 from beyond the arc to tally a season-high 15 points.
Simister led the start of the comeback, registering eight points in under two minutes to start cutting away at the deficit. However, California Baptist still led by 12 points with 17 minutes left in the game. That lead was slowly chipped down to eight points with 10 minutes to go.
Again it was Simister who sparked a Dixie State run, getting fouled while shooting a 3-pointer. The point guard made all three free throws and on the next possession PacWest Player of the Year Trevor Hill (6'4''-G-96) completed a 3-point play to make it a 2-point game. Then Hill got a steal and assisted a Simister lay-up to make it a tie game, 51-51, with nine minutes to go.
Kyler Nelson (6'1''-G) tipped in a missed shot for Dixie State to retie the score and then Hill made a lay-up to give Dixie State the lead. On the ensuing possession, Hill fought for a tough rebound and pushed the tempo, fighting through traffic to get a lay-up in transition. Dixie State held the lead for the rest of the game.
Eight consecutive points for Dixie State came from Hill lay-ups during four-minute span late in the game. California Baptist had one more chance to tie the game, trailing by three with only a second between the shot clock and the game clock. Jordan Heading got fouled in the lane, but missed both free throws before Simister ran down the rebound that was tipped out to half court.
California Baptist entered the tournament as the best free-throw shooting team in the PacWest, but in the final, the Lancers uncharacteristically made only 9 of 17 attempts. Meanwhile, Dixie State went 15 for 18 at the line with the league's leading free-throw shooter, Simister, making all nine attempts.
On Sunday, both teams will discover what awaits them at the NCAA West Regional. Dixie State was No. 4 in the latest rankings, while California Baptist was at No. 2.

PacWest Tournament Final: Dixie State - California Baptist 66-64
PacWest Tournament Semifinals:
Dixie State - Concordia 68-59
California Baptist - Azusa Pacific 67-57

Courtesy of The PAC West