Utah Tech Pulls Out Two-Point Overtime Win Over Jacksonville State

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – The Utah Tech Trailblazers picked up their first win of the season over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in overtime on Saturday.

The game was tightly contested from the jump. Neither side held a lead larger than seven.

Tanner Christensen led the way for the Blazers with 26 points and 9 rebounds.

ROAD DUBS#UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/TTcTOOzsTY

— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) November 11, 2023

First Half

Utah Tech jumped out to an early 8-2 lead with five quick points from Christensen.

Beon 👉 Tanner 👉 Big man 3⃣#UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/OTzgMMh7AY

— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) November 11, 2023

Jacksonville State fought back to take their first lead six minutes into the game.

Christensen scored seven of the Blazer’s first 11 points.

KyKy Tandy was on a tear for JSU. He scored over half of the Gamecocks’ points through the first ten minutes.

KyKy connects from deep and the Gamecocks are on top for the first time today! pic.twitter.com/6LIV01XzVi

— Jax State Basketball (@JaxStateMBB) November 11, 2023

Utah Tech responded with a 12-4 run to go up by five.

The first-half five-point lead would end up being the biggest lead the Blazers would hold at any point during the game.

Hamed Olayinka comes up with a finish off the lob, helping fuel a quick 7-2 run💪#UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/F6sVkylDgj

— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) November 11, 2023

Christensen continued to dominate for Utah Tech.

His performance kept the Trailblazers close going into the half.

The Gamecocks led by two at the break, 33-31.

Close one at the break.#UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/BDb1CPRF74

— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) November 11, 2023

Second Half

The second half would prove to be as back-and-forth as the first half was.

The Trailblazers kicked off the half with an and-one layup.

Starting the half strong… AND 1💪#UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/40375lO1sz

— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) November 11, 2023

The Gamecocks had no answer for Christensen down low.

He threw up layup after layup and continued to find the bottom of the net.

Utah Tech forced 18 turnovers and was able to turn a lot of those mistakes into easy offense.

Defense ➡️ dunk#UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/3cEJj2Kcyk

— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) November 11, 2023

Halfway through the second half, the Trailblazers led by three, 55-52.

Sophomore forward Hamed Olayinka threw down a ferocious one-hand standing dunk off of a rebound.

Battling on the boards💪#UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/VB8PiJoxi1

— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) November 11, 2023

Utah Tech lost some momentum and went down by seven with less than three minutes left.

Down to a minute on the clock, Aric Demings nailed a three-pointer to bring the Blazers within two points.

We’ve got a close one here in ‘Bama, as Aric Demings just sank a triple to bring us within ✌️#UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/Pz4WOmqRrT

— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) November 11, 2023

Beon Riley and Christensen each put in a late bucket to tie the game at 71 and force overtime.

Overtime

Two early trips to the free throw line put Jacksonville State up three in OT.

Christensen put his body into the defense and made another layup to tie the game at 77 with two minutes left.

Tanner Christensen is like that 💪

Tied ballgame, tied career-high with 26 points – two minutes to go here in OT.#UtahTechBlazers | #UniteTheFamily x #IntoTheStorm pic.twitter.com/mMBqbh7Q9f

— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) November 11, 2023

Tied at 79 with under ten seconds on the clock, Demings drove through the lane and threw up a left-hand layup around the defense for the win.

Utah Tech improved to 1-1 with the two-point victory over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.

ARIC DEMINGS IS LIKE THAT‼️

WE LEAD WITH 1.3 TO GO pic.twitter.com/e9hwuTrRRj

— Utah Tech Men’s Basketball (@UtahTechMBB) November 11, 2023

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Chandler Holt is a co-host for the Jazz Notes podcast and a Digital Sports Producer for KSLSports.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter @ChandlerHoltKSL or on Threads @chandlerho1t.

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