Men's Basketball
The Patriots Men's Basketball team played a tough St. Mary's team tonight and had the lead with 1:23 left in the game. A turnover and technical foul helped the Rattlers get back into the game and take the lead, which DBU could not regain back. St. Mary's finished off the Patriots with a 79-74 victory and improved their season record to 14-9 and 7-3 in conference play, while DBU fell to 9-14 and 5-6.
DBU came out firing tonight, taking a early 6-0 lead but the tell of the first half was the number of fouls called. The Rattlers shot 20 free throws in the first, converting 18 of them, while the Patriots only shot six free throws. The free throw margin allowed St. Mary's to get back into the game and take a 39-36 lead at the half.
The second half saw each team trading blow for blow, with both of them having a lead on several occasions. DBU finally was able to shake free from the Rattlers, pushing their lead to five points with three minutes left in the game. One minute later the Rattlers had closed the gap to two points with a field goal and technical foul on DBU. After St. Mary's cut the deficit to two points the Rattlers stepped up their intensity and forced DBU into a couple of mistakes, which allowed St. Mary's to take the lead and secure the victory.
The free throw margin showed to be the difference in the game. On the night, St. Mary's shot 35 free throws and made 28, while DBU only made 12 out 21 free throws. The Patriots committed 14 turnovers to only 12 by the Rattlers. DBU out shot STMU by hitting 50% of their shots compared to 41% for the Rattlers. St. Mary's grabbed 31 rebounds to the Patriots 28.
Freshman Eddie Gloviak led the Patriots tonight with 19 points, five assist and three boards, while Junior Dwight Coleman added 15 points and four rebounds. Junior Erik Villarreal contributed with a game high 10 assists and committed only two turnovers.
The Rattlers were led to victory by Marcus Hill, who scored a game high 22 points; including hitting nine of 10 free throws. Jarvis Lee added 17 points and Robert Owens scored 12 points and grabbed five boards.
DBU will travel to Billings, Montana, on February 19, to take on Montana St. Billings in a Heartland Conference show down.
