ABILENE, Texas — Dominick Nelson scored a game-high 22 points and Tanner Toolson added 14 to lead Utah Valley to a 73-60 road win over Abilene Christian on Thursday night at Moody Coliseum, securing the Wolverines at least a share of the WAC regular season championship.

The win is UVU's seventh straight, improving the Wolverines to 22-7 overall and 14-1 in WAC play. Utah Valley has now won 17 of its last 18 games.

"Just proud of our guys," said Utah Valley head coach Todd Phillips. "It's always a tough game here. They do such a great job of taking you out of your stuff. Our goal was to win the battle of the paint and win the boards, and we did both of those tonight, which was huge for us."

UVU held a narrow 57-52 lead with just over six minutes to play before using a quick 9-2 run to push the advantage back to double digits, 66-54, with 4:38 remaining. The Wolverines outscored ACU 7-6 the rest of the way to lock up the 73-60 victory.

Nelson's 22 points came on 7-of-15 shooting, including one three, while hitting 7-of-11 at the free throw line. He added four rebounds and two assists.

Toolson finished with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and went 3-for-4 at the line. He also tallied three rebounds and a steal.

Carter Welling added nine points, six rebounds, two blocks, and a steal, while Trevan Leonhardt chipped in eight points, seven boards, two steals, and an assist.

Jackson Holcombe and Hayden Welling provided a boost off the bench with six and five points, respectively, each pulling down four rebounds. Ethan Potter contributed four points and four rebounds.

The Wolverines shot 46.3% (25-of-54) from the field and 25% (3-of-12) from long range. ACU shot just 33.8% (24-of-71) from the floor and 28.6% (4-of-14) from deep. UVU dominated the glass, outrebounding the Wildcats 49-36, and outscored them 44-38 in the paint.

After the game, Phillips talked about how UVU's offense started strong but hit a rough patch midway through the first half.

"We shot it well early, but then they cranked up the pressure," Phillips said. "We got a little hesitant and quit being aggressive. We kept preaching to the guys — be aggressive, be aggressive. In the second half, we got back to that and good things happened for us."

The Wolverines' postgame celebration in the locker room was well-earned, but the team knows there's still work to do.

"It was a big-time celebration," Phillips said. "We've been chasing this for a few weeks now, and Grand Canyon's been right there on our heels. Proud of the guys for handling business tonight, but we've got a big one Saturday. We'll get the guys some milkshakes or something to celebrate, and then it's back to work."

Utah Valley will look to secure the outright WAC regular season title on Saturday night at Tarleton State in Stephenville, Texas. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (MT), with the game airing live on ESPN+ and the Wolverine Sports Network (ESPN 960 AM/103.9 FM in Utah County and 98.3 FM/101.5 HD2 in Salt Lake City).

How It Happened
First Half
Abilene Christian jumped out to a 4-2 lead before Utah Valley responded with a dominant 22-5 run over the next eight minutes to take a commanding 24-9 lead with 11:06 left in the half. The Wolverines maintained a 30-15 lead with just over seven minutes to play, but ACU closed the half on a 14-6 run to trim UVU's lead to 36-29 at the break.

Second Half
ACU opened the second half with a 7-4 spurt to cut the Wolverine lead to 40-36. Ethan Potter then sparked an 8-2 UVU run to push the lead back to double digits, 48-38, with 11:22 remaining. UVU stayed in control, holding a 53-43 advantage with 9:35 to go, but the Wildcats clawed back within five, 57-52, with 6:19 left.

The Wolverines responded with a decisive 9-2 run to stretch the lead back to 66-54 with 4:38 on the clock and never looked back, outscoring ACU 7-6 the rest of the way to secure the win and a piece of the WAC title.