The 17th-ranked Westminster men's basketball team was looking to sweep the Dixie Rebels on the season series Thursday night, after defeating the Rebels in St. George (67-65) back on Dec. 2.
Playing behind a big home crowd, the Griffins jumped out to a 26-7 lead only to see Dixie State storm back for a 67-64 victory.
"We had five fouls in the first half," said Rebels coach Jon Judkins. "I told our guys that we're really soft. We've got to play with a lot more heart ... we've got to be aggressive and much tougher than that."
In the first half, it was the Griffins who came out ready to play, forcing 11 turnovers and holding Dixie to 30 percent shooting. Things turned around just in time for Judkins' team. Led by sophomore Ryan Sanchez's 21 points, the Rebels made a thrilling second half comeback by hitting 10-of-12 field goals to eventually forge a 63-62 lead with 1:20 left to play in.
After a basket from Dixie's Troy Randall and a free throw, Westminster could have forced a tie. Down 67-64 with 12 seconds to play, the Griffins' 3-point specialist Jordan Jacobs missed two desperation shots.
Westminster's Danny Reeder scored a team-high 17 points and Jacobs chipped in with 12 points but it was Dixie's red-hot shooting in the second half that pulled out the win. Judkins said the team made adjustments on offense to free up Sanchez and their leading scorer, Johnny Little. Apparently, it worked as the Rebels went 17 of 23 from the field for an amazing 74 percent shooting.
Troy Randall and Ben Hartman each scored 12 points to help bring the Rebels back from a 19-point deficit.
Thursday's loss snaps Westminster's four-game winning streak and drops the Griffins' record to 7-5. With the win, Dixie State improves to 5-5 overall.
E-mail: tpeterson@desnews.com