The Utah Valley University Men’s Basketball team hosted California Baptist Thursday night as the Wolverines get back into the win column with 65-58 conference victory.
The Wolverines put together an outstanding performance on both sides of the ball as they handed CBU their sixth loss of the season while the Wolverines snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 2-1 in conference play.
Trevin Dorius recorded a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Jaden Mclanahan was a force defensively while also helping the Wolverines offensively with 10 points.
Drake Allen posted his second highest scoring game of the season with 17 points adding on three rebounds and two assists.
“Really pleased with the way the guys played tonight,” head coach Todd Phillips. “Credit to them we really defended well tonight and got back to who we are defending and protecting the paint.”
UVU dominated in the paint tonight outsourcing the Lancers 26-4 while also outrebounding them 25-16.
Right from the tip Utah Valley dominated down low and came out shooting 4-5, leading to an 8-0 run which caused head coach Rick Croy to call an early timeout for CBU.
Utah Valley continued to cling to their two-possession lead as the half went on
Both teams struggled to shoot from the field as the half continued each team went 1-8 through a four-minute stretch and with 9:00 minutes to go UVU lead 15-10
As the clock neared the end of the half Jaden Mclanahan came up huge for the Wolverines as he finished back-to-back contested layups in the remaining few minutes as the Wolverines went into the locker room with their biggest lead of the night 32-22.
Allen played his best half of basketball going into the locker room with nine points shooting 75% while Dorius was a huge help with four points, four assists and nine rebounds.
The narrative flipped for CBU in the second half as they came out on fire, capping off a 7-0 run with back-to-back second buckets from chance points which cut the lead to just three.
After three minutes without a bucket Caleb Stone-Carrawell ended the scoring drought for the Wolverines after finishing a tough layup down the lane.
California Baptist looked to finally have their offense in rhythm as they continued to trade shots with the Wolverines eventually taking a three-point lead after a deep three from CBU’s star point guard Dominique Daniels Jr.
With the tensions and pressure rising Dorius once again made a huge play for the Wolverines as slamming down a dunk that erupted the crowd and gave the Wolverines a four-point lead with 9:49 to go.
The Lancers were unable to defend UVU down low, leading the Wolverines to close out the game from the stripe going 8-10 through a 5-minute stretch.
Just when CBU got within striking distance Allen grabbed a missed three pointer from Tanner Toolson and slammed it back in as the crowd went wild extending the Wolverine lead to 10.
A late three by Daniels Jr. was not enough as the Wolverines snap a four-game losing streak coming out victorious 65-58.
This was the first time since Feb. 7th, 2005, the Wolverines did not make a three-point shot which ends a 265-game streak.
“We played some really tough teams so far,” Dorius said. “It’s always good to see a win on the board and I can’t imagine that’s going to end, we’re optimistic that this is going to keep going and it is time for the Wolverines to go on a run.”
The Wolverines will stay home to host in-state rival and conference foe Southern Utah Sat. January 6th at 2pm. This game can be streamed on ESPN+.
