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LAS VEGAS — Utah Valley finished the regular season by going 7-1 in their final eight games; but their hot streak, along with their season, came to an end after falling to California Baptist in overtime Wednesday.
The 74-63 defeat knocked the Wolverines out of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in the first round.
Cal Baptist's Blondeau Tchoukuiegno was the only player from either team to play the entirety of the first half, and used those 20 minutes to post 8 points while dishing out two assists. Despite going just 2-of-8 from the field, his 3-of-4 performance at the free-throw line gave him what he needed to be the Lancers' leading scorer in the half.
Wolverines forward Caleb Stone-Carrawell also put up 8 points, but was topped by Ethan Potter's game-leading 11 points. Potter shot 5-of-6 from the field, making him one of the most efficient shooters in the first half. Trevin Dorius also contributed heavily for Utah Valley by collecting seven rebounds, just under 40% of his team's first-half total.
Yvan Ouedraogo got the scoring started with a hook shot for California Baptist, and the teams went back and forth from there. The largest lead of the half was just 6 points, held by Cal Baptist with just under seven minutes on the clock. Utah Valley kept with it, and despite trailing for all but two minutes, took a 30-28 lead into the locker room.
Still without rest, Tchoukuiegno had a repeat of his 8-point half, this time accompanied by eight assists to earn him a double-double. Ouedraogo was the only Lancer to outscore him, and the only one to hit double digits in a single half, with his 10 points.
Potter's hot hand remained and he tacked 10 more points onto his total. Meanwhile, Drake Allen came alive for the Wolverines and put up 12 points along with providing all four of the team's assists in the second frame.
Utah Valley drew 10 fouls in the half while only committing seven of their own, and their 10-of-10 showing from the charity stripe helped keep them in the game.
The second half began similar to the first, with the Lancers keeping a slight edge but the Wolverines staying right on their tails. When the clock hit 14 minutes, Cal Baptist found some momentum and went on a 10-0 run to build up a 52-40 lead before Utah Valley could answer.
"I was really proud of our guys," Wolverine head coach Todd Phillips said. "The game was a little bit like our season has been. We get down, we dig ourselves a hole a little bit and we fight like crazy to get back."
After a jumper by Potter and two consecutive 3-pointers by Allen, the Wolverines were back in it.
As the offense woke up, so did the defense. The Wolverines held Cal Baptist to just 4 points in the last six minutes, causing three shot-clock violations along the way. Down by 2, Allen was fouled and drained both free throws to send the teams to overtime knotted at 60-60.
"I thought it was more Utah Valley making big plays than us missing assignments," Cal Baptist head coach Rick Croy said. "I was so proud of our talk, our energy and our commitment in overtime. We played a really good overtime against a really good team."
Whatever Utah Valley did in the overtime period could hardly be called basketball, though. The team scored just 3 points while allowing the Lancers to put up 14.
They gave Cal Baptist 7 free points due to the five fouls they committed in the five minutes. Tchoukuiegno stayed strong and scored his final 5 points, giving him a total of 21 on the night. Potter picked up 2 more on a turnaround jumper and earned his new career high of 23 points.
"We came up short, but we were all working our hardest," Potter said. "There's not much more we could have done."
After the Wolverines' abysmal last period, the Lancers' 74-63 win sent them on their way to the quarterfinal round where they will face the Redhawks of Seattle University.
Utah Valley had a tough first half of their season and ended the year at 16-15 overall. Their regular season was good enough to earn them the fifth seed as they entered the tournament.
