OREM, Utah – After trailing by 22 points, an exciting second-half surge by California Baptist brought it within six with five minutes to go, but Utah Valley did not give up the lead in a 79-62 win. The Wolverines (16-7; 5-3 WAC) have now won 25 of their last 27 games at home.
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CBU sophomore
Milan Acquaah, entered the game as the leading scorer in the Western Athletic Conference at 21.4 ppg, was held to only two points on 0-9 shooting from the field in the first half. He exploded in the second half, leading the comeback charge for the Lancers with 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting from deep.  Acquaah finished with 20 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals. He has now scored 20 or more points in 14-of-20 games played this season.
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At the beginning of the game, CBU jumped out to a 6-2 lead with junior
Jeremy Smith scoring the first two field goals. The Wolverines responded with a 7-0 run, taking a 9-6 lead prior to the first media timeout. Junior
Zach Pirog scored five of the next seven points highlighted by two pick-and-roll dunks to push the score to 13-13 with 11:23 remaining.
 Utah Valley turned it on, making six straight treys as part of a 20-3 run over the next five minutes to make the score 33-16 with 5:51 left in the first half. The Wolverines took a 37-18 lead to the locker room at the break.Â
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UVU opened the second half with a Jake Toolson three pointer making it 40-18 and extending their lead to a game-high 22 points. That's when Lancers started to heat up from outside and made things interesting. CBU would outscore the Wolverines 22-6 in a span of five minutes to make it 46-40 with 12:58 left in the game. The Lancers made six treys during the run with three by Acquaah, two by sophomore
Mike Henn and another by senior
Jordan Heading. Junior
Zach Pirog put an exclamation point on the run with his third dunk of the game.
 The Lancers would remain in striking distance with the score at 62-56 after a three pointer by Acquaah with 4:39 left.Â
Utah Valley pulled away at that point, outpacing CBU 17-6 in the final four minutes of the contest. With the 79-62 victory, Utah Valley is 15-4 since opening the season 1-3. The Wolverines have won five of their last six games.
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Henn scored 11 points, all in the second half, along with four rebounds for the Lancers. Pirog added 11 points and six boards off the bench.
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Jake Toolson finished with a team-high 17 points on 5-9 shooting from outside for UVU. Baylee Steele posted a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Isaiah White tallied 15 points while shooting 2-3 from beyond the arc. T.J. Washington added 11 points off the bench.
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CBU (10-10; 2-5 WAC) remains on the road and will take on Seattle U on Saturday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
