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Utah Tech players Ethan Potter (35) and Chance Trujillo (2) celebrate Potter's game-winning basket to defeat Weber State on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025 at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

Brooklyn Fehr, Utah Tech Athletics

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Weber State forwards Edwin Suarez Jr. (0) and Malek Gomma, right, battle for a rebound while Utah Tech's Noah Bolanga (66) reaches out on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025 at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

Photo supplied, Weber State Athletics

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Weber State guard Tijan Saine Jr. (3) rises to shoot against Utah Tech's Madiba Owona (33) on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025 at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

Photo supplied, Weber State Athletics

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Utah Tech's Noah Bolanga (66) fouls Weber State's Jace Whiting on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025 at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

Photo supplied, Weber State Athletics

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Weber State guard Trevor Hennig, center, jumps to the basket against Utah Tech on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025 at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.

Photo supplied, Weber State Athletics

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OGDEN — Ethan Potter had his moments Saturday night; scoring 23 points with plenty of post-up punctuations would suggest as much.

But the Layton High alum got his exclamation mark with help from Davis High alum and childhood teammate Chance Trujillo.

With Utah Tech tied 80-80 at Weber State and out of a timeout with 10.8 seconds remaining, Trujillo drove right and drew help defense, allowing a dumpoff to Potter for a banked-in bucket with 1.2 left on the clock, giving the visiting Trailblazers an 82-80 victory and creating an eruption from behind the Tech bench from the Davis County duo’s combined support section.

“Definitely am (fired up),” Potter said. “Especially being so close to home, it means a lot.”

Trujillo said he had an option to go left and shoot a jump shot but Weber defended it, so he drove around the paint going right to try and make a play.

“Get to the middle, pull Ethan’s guy off him, Ethan’s right hand — he’s pretty gifted so give it to him, it’s usually going to go in,” Trujillo said.

Once he drew help defense, Trujillo said he knew it was a winner.

“Gave me a wide-open layup,” Potter said, “so it would have been more embarrassing than anything if I missed that.”

Veteran Utah Tech coach Jon Judkins said it’s more of the same from the Northern Utah pair.

“That’s just them. They’re tough,” Judkins said. “Those guys play so hard, they’re my two captains. They’re always trying to get better, always trying to make our team better.”

Potter’s winner was the final tick in a whopping tally of 10 ties and 10 lead changes in the second half alone. For Weber State, one sequence and one fleeting moment stand out above others.

The quick blip was a tough pill to swallow.

Utah Tech had been 3 of its last 15 from the 3-point line before Noah Bolanga and Madiba Owona, the team’s French connection, made consecutive triples to put their team up 75-68 with 4:05 left.

A drive from Tijan Saine Jr. started an 8-0 run for Weber State, capped with true freshman Duce Paschal making two free throws on a foul-drawing drive, putting WSU ahead 76-75 with 1:45 left.

A mere 10 seconds later, Paschal drew a stunning technical foul call — whistled in a one-point game with less than 2 minutes left. Paschal defended chatty Utah Tech guard Jusuan Holt on the baseline and poked the ball out of bounds; Paschal flexed and yelled, and got the tech.

Trujillo made one of the freebies and Bolanga made one more on the ensuing possession to put Utah Tech back in the lead, 77-76 with 1:15 left.

Saine free throws restored WSU to a 78-77 lead. Owona answered with the toughest shot of the night, a contested, stepback 3 with 28.5 left, and the visitors led 80-78.

“You have to tip your hat. They made some tough shots tonight and made a few more plays than we did,” WSU head coach Eric Duft said. “They don’t get the ball to the paint at all and he hits that over Jace (Whiting), that’s just a tough make.”

Saine drew another foul and capped his 13-of-14 night at the foul line with two more and 14.7 left, setting up the final sequence.

Paschal got the start Saturday in place of Trevor Hennig. He had five points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals and was minus-one in 16:20 of playing time. Duft said Hennig watched film of his defensive effort Wednesday at Utah Valley and understood the decision to bring him off the bench Saturday.

“He lost his way with how hard he’s playing defensively, we showed him the film … he responded tonight and had one of his better games on both ends,” Duft said about Hennig.

Hennig finished with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

Saine said the Wildcats have Paschal’s back and know his growth will help the team come conference play.

“Agree with the call or not, at the end of the day, you just keep pushing … it happened in the past,” Saine said. “We’re sticking with Duce all the way. … We’re not going to dwell on it. That’s our brother.”

The longer sequence that helped doom Weber came early. The Wildcats came out in control and got a 9-3 lead but it fell apart quickly. Holt hit consecutive 3-pointers for Utah Tech, the second good for a four-point play, and turnovers made it into a run. Consecutive live-ball turnovers from WSU forward Edwin Suarez led to Tech transition baskets.

Nigel Burris threw a poor pass trying to get Malek Gomma in the paint and, at the other end, Potter posted up for paint points. That capped a 15-0 run for the visitors, good for an 18-9 lead.

Saine hit a 3 to stop the run, Hennig made another and Saine took a 3-of-3 foul trip after drawing contact on one more. Paschal’s 3-pointer made a 13-3 Weber run to tie it 22-22 with 11:20 left in the first half — but one wonders what one stop or one basket during Tech’s 15-0 rally might have meant later.

The game was a battle that played within a six-point margin almost the rest of the way. Utah Tech led 43-41 at halftime.

Saine scored a season-high 28 points (for both himself and WSU as a team) on 6-of-11 shooting, adding four assists. Hennig’s 19 points included going 3 of 4 from distance; Weber State (5-7) broke out with a 10-of-19 performance from the 3-point line, yet in a loss. Whiting had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Potter added eight rebounds to his 23 points for Utah Tech (7-6). Owona netted 18 points and Bolanga 16.

Weber State next hosts non-Division I opponent Lincoln (California) at 2 p.m. Monday. Duft described the game as a dress rehearsal for conference play, intentionally scheduled to create the same schedule of two games in three days that WSU will begin after the holiday break.

In the big-picture perspective, Saturday’s contest was an instant in-state classic, giving the series final-second game-winners in consecutive seasons. Next time out, WSU and UTU will face off as conference opponents.

“It’s a big one for us, now jumping in (to the Big Sky) and getting Weber State. It’s going to be a fun rivalry to have,” Judkins said. “It’s going to be fun. … Eric (Duft) is a great coach, great guy, and it’s going to be fun to work together and also battle it out.”