It’s been a brutal three-week stretch for the Utah Valley men’s basketball team, which faced a gauntlet in WAC play with five of its last six games coming on the road.

The first four of the contests away from Orem turned out to be losses, although the Wolverines felt like it had chances to win at UT Rio Grande Valley and dropped a one-point heartbreaker at Seattle.

UVU’s final chance to get a road win during the stretch came Thursday night at William R. Johnson Coliseum in Nacogdoches, Texas, as the Wolverines took on Stephen F. Austin.

Unfortunately, as before, victory eluded UVU as the Lumberjacks made just enough plays down the stretch to hold on for the 77-72 victory.

But it could’ve been a lot worse.

The Wolverines had a dismal first half where it seemed like no one except freshman Tanner Toolson could get on track. And with senior center Trevin Dorius on the bench quickly with foul trouble, UVU struggled to keep SFA from scoring inside.

The result was that the Wolverines trailed by as many as 13 points and headed to the locker room at halftime facing a 38-27 deficit.

But, as UVU has shown many times in 2023-24, this isn’t a squad that goes down easily.

The Wolverines kept scrapping and clawing their way back into the game, getting big shots a key stops until not only did they erase the deficit but UVU actually took a one-point lead on a free throw by Caleb Stone-Carrawell.

It turned out to be a short-lived moment, however, as the Lumberjacks roared back.

After Stephen F. Austin tied the game with a foul shot, Stone-Carrawell had a good look at 3-pointer that would’ve put some pressure on the home team. It caromed off the rim and the Lumberjacks came through with a hook shot from Jalil Beaubrun to go in front for good.

UVU stayed within striking distance down the stretch and only trailed 71-69 after an Ethan Potter layup with 1:08 left to play.

But SFA made 6-of-8 free throws from that point on and although the Wolverines got a couple of baskets, they couldn’t close the gap.

Toolson and Stone-Carrawell paced UVU with 20 points apiece, combining to make eight of the 10 Wolverines 3-pointers. Potter tacked on 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting, while Drake Allen tallied 11 assists in the losing effort.

The Lumberjacks got 22 points from Beaubrun and 19 from Latrell Jossell.

UVU (9-12) now makes the trip back from Texas on Friday to prepare to host Grand Canyon at the UCCU Center in Orem on Saturday. That game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+,

Wolverine women’s basketball falls to SFA

Jenna Dick scored 14 of her season-high 17 points in the fourth but Utah Valley’s fourth-quarter comeback attempt ran out of time in a 72-63 loss to Stephen F. Austin on Thursday night in Lockhart Arena.

Dick hit five 3-pointers, four of which came in the fourth, while Ally Criddle finished with 12 points, six assists and three steals, and Tessa Chaney added 10 points and six rebounds for the Wolverines (8-11, 3-7).

SFA (14-7, 8-2) had four players score in double figures, led by 15 points off the bench from Avery VanSickle. Kurstyn Harden finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, Lydia Cooke-Wiggins scored 12, and Destini Lombard added 11.

Utah Valley trailed by 17 after three and then by 20, 57-37, early in the fourth before Dick keyed a 10-0 run with eight points to cut the lead in half with six minutes remaining. Out of an SFA timeout, the Ladyjacks scored five straight to extend it back to 15 to put the game out of reach. Dick did hit two more from distance down the stretch but UVU would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.

The game was back-and-forth in the opening quarter with the lead changing hands seven times and neither team leading by more than four points. The Wolverines trailed 20-16 late when Tahlia White hit a corner three to make it 20-19 after one.

UVU went cold in the second, suffering through a stretch of 11 straight misses, allowing SFA to score the first 12 points of the quarter before the Wolverines got on the board on a Chaney layup with 3:52 before halftime. The Wolverines trailed 35-24 at the half after VanSickle hit a putback jumper right as the buzzer sounded. VanSickle led all scorers with 10 at the half while Chaney and White had six each for Utah Valley. SFA outscored UVU 15-5 in the second with the Wolverines making just two of their 12 attempts from the field.

The Ladyjacks scored six straight points out of the break to extend the lead to 41-24 and later extended it to as much as 21, 49-28, in the third. Eleyana Tafisi hit a jumper late in the third to make it a 54-37 score entering the fourth.

SFA won the rebounding battle 45-33, taking advantage of 15 offensive rebounds that led to 18 second-chance points. The Wolverines had 13 boards on the offensive glass but only turned that into five points.

UVU’s Dickinson selected as WAC Preseason Player of the Year

Utah Valley sophomore second baseman Daniel Dickinson was named D1 Baseball’s WAC Preseason Player of the Year on Thursday morning.

“What an incredible recognition for Daniel. This is a testament to the impact he made on the conference in his freshman season last year. He is a relentless worker, and I know he is determined to have another great campaign this season,” said UVU head coach Eddie Smith.

Dickinson broke several UVU freshman records in 2023 after hitting .376 with 83 hits and scoring 59 runs. He added nine homers from the plate, including the first three-home run game since 2009 when he went deep three times against Stephen F. Austin.

He reached new heights in WAC games, hitting .410 in conference play with 48 hits, including 12 doubles and seven big flies. He finished with an on-base percentage of .474 and a .692 slugging percentage.

D1 Baseball ranked Dickinson at No. 19 in the top 50 second basemen in the country. He will play in the prestigious Cape Cod League with the Harwich Mariners this summer.

The Wolverines were picked second by D1 Baseball behind Grand Canyon. UVU officially opens the season on Feb. 16 at 3:00 p.m. MT on the road against CSUN. The home opener is scheduled for Friday, Mar. 1 at 4:05 p.m. MT against WCC foe Portland.

The Wolverines will now head to Phoenix to face the WAC leaders Grand Canyon on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT.

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