HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University shot a season-low 32 percent from the floor as the Sharks fell to PacWest Conference leader Dixie State 71-65 Saturday afternoon at Moanalua High School Gym.
 
The Sharks (11-10, 6-7) held an early lead, before the Trailblazers (15-6, 12-2) went on a 10-0 run to overtake the Sharks on the way to their 10th straight win.
 
"We just couldn't shoot well, and you have to give Dixie State credit for that, too," said HPU head coach Darren Vorderbruegge. "We had some chances in the second half when we were playing great defense, but couldn't score."
 
Junior forward Jonathan Janssen of Noosa Heads, Australia/Mountain Creek, paced the Sharks with his fifth double-double of the season of 19 points and 11 rebounds, while senior forward Niksha Federico of San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic, posted his 12 double-double with 16 points and 10 boards with two blocks before fouling out. Freshman guard Tavon Tarpley of McLean, Va./Langley, had his first double-digit scoring game with 16 points.
 
Dixie State was led by guard Brandon Simister with 21 points and four assists. Trevor Hill tallied 15 points with five boards, as Zac Hunter added 11 points with six rebounds. Julien Ducree came off the bench with nine points and led the Trailblazers with eight rebounds.
 
The Sharks hit 19-of-59 shots from the floor for their season low 32.2 field goal percentage, that included going 8-of-28 (28.6 percent) from the 3-point arc. HPU hit 19-of-25 (76 percent) from the free throw line. Dixie State made 23-of-51 shots from the field (45 percent), with 5-of-9 (56 percent) from the arc. The Trailblazers converted 20-of-35 (57 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
HPU got a jumper from Federico to start the game, got a tip-in from Jansen to have a 4-2 lead and a bucket from Tarpley that made it 6-3 early. But the Blazers answered each time and got back-to-back layups from Hunter and Hill for their first lead at 7-6.
 
HPU redshirt freshman guard David Rowlands of Dayton, Ohio/Moorpark, responded with a runner in the lane for an 8-7 advantage for HPU with 15 minutes left in the first, but that was the Sharks last lead. DSU's Kyler Nielson got a fast break layup to retake the lead at 9-8 and started a 10-0 run over the next three minutes that HPU never recovered from.
 
Dixie State built an 11-point first half lead before the Sharks trimmed it down, then used a 10-4 run to pull within three points at 32-29 on a Janssen layup with 55 seconds in the half. However a foul allowed Hill to sink a pair of free throws with 26 seconds remaining as DSU took a 34-29 lead into the intermission.
 
Nielson and Hill combined for a 5-0 run to start the second half for a 10-point lead. HPU battled back, but DSU always kept at least a seven-point advantage. The Trailblazers pushed their lead to 14 with 10:31 to play on a fast break layup by Hunter.
 
The Sharks responded with a 9-2 run to pull within seven at 60-53 with 5:53 left, but couldn't take further advantage. HPU held Dixie State without a field goal and just the two free throws for seven minutes, but both teams were scoreless for two-and-a half minutes before Ducree got a jumper with 3:38 remaining and opened the lead back to nine.
 
DSU pushed the advantage back to 11 before a Federico 3-pointer and a Tarpley layup made it a six-point contest, finishing at 71-65.
 
The Sharks close a four-game homestand on Tuesday as they welcome Hawai'i Hilo to Oahu for a PacWest Hawai'i Challenge game at Moanalua. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.