Utah Tech Loses Fifth Straight In Tight Road Contest
Jan 18, 2023, 9:27 PM | Updated: Jul 12, 2023, 1:53 pm
ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Utah Tech comeback attempt came up short on Wednesday night as the Trailblazers lost 89-85 to Grand Canyon.
The Trailblazers (9-9, 1-4) were in Phoenix, AZ to face the Grand Canyon Antelopes (12-6, 3-2) at GCU Arena on Wednesday, January 18.
Final from Phoenix.
Trailblazers (9-10/1-5 WAC) gave GCU all it wanted but came up just short.
Isaiah Pope with a career-high tying 25 pts. Frank Staine with a career-high 21 pts (5-7 3FG), and Tanner Christensen with 21 pts. #UtahTechBlazers | #WACmbb | #WAChoops pic.twitter.com/9rdJNAw82S— Utah Tech Men's Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) January 19, 2023
Utah Tech dropped their last game blowout fashion at home. The Trailblazers lost just their second game of the season at Burns Arena, falling to Sam Houston 78-53.
Grand Canyon dropped a close game on the road in their last outing, losing 79-74 at California Baptist.
RELATED: Utah Tech Blown Out At Home, Drop Fourth Straight Game
Isaiah Pope led the Trailblazers with 25 points. Frank Staine (5-of-8 3pt FG) and Tanner Christensen added 21 apiece in the loss.
Ray Harrison’s 38 point explosion led all scorers in the win.
First Half
Utah Tech started slowly, falling behind by 11 in the opening minutes.
Trailing 25-17, Frank Staine, Noa Gonsalves combined to make back-to-back-to-back threes, keying a 9-0 run to take a 26-25 lead.
FRANK STAINE FOR 3️⃣!! Trailblazers on a 9-0 run to take the lead!#UtahTechBlazers | #WACmbb | #WAChoops pic.twitter.com/TAgsjnew0o
— Utah Tech Men's Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) January 19, 2023
Later in the half, Tanner Christensen connected with Isaiah Pope on a nifty inbounds play to cut the Antelopes lead to four at 38-34.
RELATED: Utah Tech Falls to California Baptist On Road
Tanner Christensen led the Trailblazers with 16 first half points. Isaiah Pope and Frank Staine each added eight points. Grand Canyon’s Ray Harrison led all scorer’s with 19 points in the opening 20 minutes.
Halftime in Phoenix.#UtahTechBlazers | #WACmbb | #WAChoops pic.twitter.com/dFNNQxg0uj
— Utah Tech Men's Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) January 19, 2023
Second Half
The Antelopes extended their lead to eight early in the second half with Josh Baker hitting his fourth three in five attempts.
Three-point shooting on the other end kept Utah Tech close. Also 4-of-5 from deep was Frank Staine for the Trailblazers.
FRANK knocks down his third 3️⃣ of the game! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/zx95GU3Oe0
— Utah Tech Men's Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) January 19, 2023
Despite shooting better than 50 percent from deep, Utah Tech couldn’t get enough stops on the defensive end to take control. Grand Canyon made more than 55 percent of their shots in the opening 30 minutes.
RELATED: Slow Start Dooms Utah Tech In Home Loss To Stephen F. Austin
The Antelopes took a 78-69 lead into the under-four minute timeout.
Staine hit his fifth three of the night in the final minutes but it wasn’t enough as Grand Canyon held on for an 89-85 win.
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Up Next
The Trailblazers return home where they will take on the New Mexico State Aggies (7-11, 0-6) at Burns Arena on Saturday, January 21. Tip-off for this game is scheduled for 7 p.m. (MST).
