Box Score

St. George, Utah - Malcolm Griffin and John Taylor combined for 61 points but a long road trip and a first-place Dixie State team on its home court proved to be too much to overcome as Fresno Pacific saw its seven-game win streak come to an end, 106-91, on Tuesday night in Utah in a battle between the top two teams in the PacWest standings.

The Red Storm (15-4, 10-1 PWC) entered the game with a seven-game win streak as well, looking to avenge their lone conference loss of the season which came at the hands of FPU on a buzzer-beater by Griffin in December. Though the Sunbirds (14-7, 9-4 PWC) were able to control the tempo and force the Red Storm into a season-high 24 turnovers, FPU didn't have an answer for Dixie State's inside game as the Red Storm shot 71% from the field and outscored the Sunbirds 54-24 in the paint.

"We dug ourselves a big hole by not defending and not rebounding," said head coach Chris Wright. "Still, we showed a lot of character to come back and cut it to six multiple times late in the game. It's disappointing for sure, but we won't be discouraged. We still have a lot to play for and we're in good position. We're going to get after it in practice and get ready to protect our home court on Saturday."

The Sunbirds controlled the tempo from the start in a first half that saw seven lead changes and seven ties before the Red Storm began to break away for a 51-37 halftime lead. DSU would stretch the lead to 22 early in the second half but FPU responded with a 19-3 run that cut the lead to 65-59 with 12:10 remaining after back-to-back threes by Griffin and Taylor.

The Sunbird defense spearheaded the comeback, with Anthony Brant providing a spark off the bench and recording two steals during the run.

"His energy and passion was tremendous," said Wright. "He almost single-handedly upped our defensive effort in the second half."

The Sunbirds would trim the deficit to six on two more occasions as the game winded down, but the Red Storm would continue to score at a rapid pace to put the game out of reach.

Taylor finished with 36 points, one off of his season high. Griffin had 25 points to go with eight rebounds, six assists and five steals. Brant added 11 points off the bench.

Zach Robbins had 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Red Storm. Dalton Groskreutz added 20 in the victory.

The Sunbirds are back home this Saturday as they take on rival Azusa Pacific at 4:30 pm. FPU will be looking to even up the season series after falling 88-67 at Azusa Pacific last month. After taking that loss, the Sunbirds proceeded to go on the seven-game win streak. APU (8-10, 5-5 PWC) is coming off a 97-92 home loss to Academy of Art.